/
JOHN
V ASS ALL
AND
HIS
DESCENDANTS
BY
ONE OF THEM
.
W
o
D
JOHN VASSALL AND
HIS DESCENDANTS
BY
ONE OF THEM
Charles -/MaclearCa-U-er
1 «
III » o
*v
Y337
STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, LTD.,
PRINTERS, HERTFORD.
Pt V3aJ^-^-
*
.• • • •• •
•• • • • i
• • • • •«
• * • • -
« •« • • • •
•• ••• •
•• • • • •
• ••• ; <
• • • ••<
• • • i
• ••• ••«
•2 •
With the Compiler's Compliments
FOREWORD
The compilation of this sketch is on the lines adopted by Mr. E. D.
Harris in 1862 in his Vassalls of New England and their Descendants
and, when found to be correct, that work has been extensively copied ;
but a great many members of the family have been, for the first time,
introduced into their proper places, from information received from the
splendid records which have been kept in the Island of Jamaica from the
conquest to the present time. John Vassall [6], the son of William
Vassall [3], was known to have gone to Jamaica, yet no effort was made
to obtain information from the authentic records of the Island ; and five
of his sons were entirely lost sight of, as stray notes, in which the names
of two or three members of the family are referred to, cannot be styled
references, when their correct places were arrived at by conjecture often
erroneous. The Compiler craves indulgence if errors are discovered in
the dates, as he has tried his best to avoid them. He acknowledges,
with many thanks, the valuable assistance he has received from the
Vassall Pedigree prepared by the late Rev. William Vassall (179),
containing information of the early Vassalls ; also from The Visitation
of England and Wales, edited by Mr. Frederick Arthur Crisp and
privately printed, also from Mr. Vere L. Oliver, the Editor of Caribbeana.
The Arms of the French ancestors of the Vassalls were : D'azur a la
bande de gueules, bord^e d'argent, chargee de trois besans d'or,
accompagnee de 2 etoiles d'or posees Tune en chef et l'autre en pointe.
Arms granted by Queen Elizabeth : Azur, in chief a sun, in base
a chalice, or, Crest : A ship with masts and shrouds, ppr. Motto :
Scepe pro regey semper pro republica.
Honourable augmentation of Arms granted to the widow and
descendants of Spencer Thomas Vassall, Lieut. -Colonel 38th Foot, is
given in the reference to Col. Vassell [62].
It is evident that the Vassalls were Huguenots, and to avoid the
troubles that existed in France, that the ancestor was sent to England :
no record can be found of naturalization, but the omission can be
accounted for by the birth of the succeeding Vassalls in England, thus
becoming citizens by birth.
In a sketch such as this it is impossible to trace every descendant, as
their names even, are not known, and some have been entirely lost sight
of, as exemplified by the tradition that at the time of the successful
Revolution of the American Colonies, and the flight of the Vassalls from
Boston, a girl and her nurse were lost and never heard of, but in the
sixties of the last century Mrs. Elizabeth Oliver Johnson (73) received
a letter from a woman who claimed to be the descendant of the lost
girl and relationship ; unfortunately Mrs. Johnson did not reply to the
letter.
John Vassall and his Descendants
The information of the descendants of John Vassall (6), which was
obtained from the Record Office in Jamaica, was supplied to the Editor
of The Visitation of England and Wales by the Compiler of this Sketch
and appears in the Notes to Vol. 13 ; but the surname of the wife of
John Vassall (16) was not, as it had not been obtained when the
information was supplied ; the same applies to Anna Vassall (18). The
Editor made a mistake when he stated that Mary Vassall (9) was born
in New England ; she was born in England and taken by her parents to
New England when only one year old, as appears in the list of passengers
in the Blessing, vide (1) 3 William Vassall.
1920. C. M. C.
JOHN VASSALL AND HIS DESCENDANTS
JOHN VASSALL, the first of the name of whom we have any definite
information, was the son of John Vassall, who was sent by his father
from Rinant by Cany in Normandy into England on account of the
dissensions then prevailing in Normandy, and was the descendant of an ancient
French family, tracing back, it is claimed, to the eleventh century of the
house of Du Vassall, Barons de Guerden, in Querci, Perigord. He fitted out,
at his own expense, two ships, The Samuel and The Little Toby, which he
commanded, and with which he served against the Spanish Armada ; for
this assistance he was rewarded by a grant of Arms by Queen Elizabeth. He
was of Ratcliff, Stepney, and of Eastwood, co. Essex, and was a vestryman
of Stepney. He was three times m., first at Stepney on September 25,
1569, to Anna Hewes, who evidently d. sine prole. He then m. on Sept. 4,
1580, at Stepney, Anna Russell, of Ratcliff, co. Middlesex, who d. and was
bur. there May 5, 1593, having had the following children : Judith, bapt.
March 25, 1582, m. John Freeborne, of Prettlewell, co. Essex, yeoman,
whose will dated Jan. 27, 1617-18, was proved by his widow Feb. 17,
1617-18 ; she was living April 29, 1625 ; John, bapt. at Stepney, April 1,
1584, bur. there Oct. 3, 1585; 2 Samuel, of whom hereafter; John, born
March 24, d. Aug. 30, 1591 ; 3 William, of whom hereafter. On the death
of his second wife John Vassall m. Judith, dau. of Stephen Borough, of
Stepney, and of Chatham, co. Kent, by Joan Overye, his wife, at Stepney,
March 27, 1594, marriage licence dated March 23 ; she d. in Jan., 1638-9.
She had m. firstly Thomas Scott, of Colchester, co. Essex, gent., her husband
Vassall predeceased her, and was bur. in Stepney Church Sept. 13, 1625 ;
his will was proved Sept. 13, 1625 (P.C.C., 99 Clarke) (see Dictionary of
National Biography, vol. lviii, p. 155). Children of third marriage were
Stephen, rector of Raleigh, co. Essex, of Pembroke College, Cambridge,
matriculated Easter, 1616, B.A. 1619-20, M.A. 1631, d. 1643, m. first
Mary Bromley, dau. of Bromley, of Orsett, co. Essex, by Jane his wife;
she d. Jan. 20, 1632, having had three children : Stephen, born Sept. 8,
1629, d. June 17, 1631 ; Stephen, d. Feb. 27, 1635 ; and Mary, born Nov. 13,
1627, d. May 24, 1641. Stephen Vassall then m. Mary, dau. of John Grubbe,
of St. Albans, Herts, who was born Jan. 2, 161 4, by whom he had
Stephen, who d. in 1695, and Constance, born Oct. 28, 1634, d. Nov. 5,
1636. Stephen, the son of the rector, was of Rochford, and m. first
Mary, dau. of William Cripps, of Great Stambridge, in June, 1666 ; she
d. at Rochford, Feb. 12, 1679, having had one son, Asser, who was born
in 1668 and d. young. Stephen, of Rochford, then m. Ann Berriman,
who was living a widow in 1699, and by her had one son, Asser, who m.
Mary Spencer, of Burnham, and d. and was bur. at Barling, March 23,
1728, having had six sons and twelve daughters, viz. Asser, of Eastwood,
born 1698, m. Sept. 17, 1723, d. 1762, his wife, Judith, dau. of John
Shakespear, of Rawreth, d. 1768, having had the following children:
Asser, of Eastwood, who m. Mary, dau. of Thomas Mead, who d.
Dec. 26, 1826, aged 86 ; Asser predeceased his wife, and d. Feb. 8, 1808,
leaving one dau. Mary, born 1779, m. William Weld Wren, of South-
church, who d. July 20, 1849, aged 72 years ; his wife predeceased him,
having d. Jan, 3, 1830, evidently sine prole. George Asser, the second son
of Asser and Judith, was of Barling, and m. Dec. 5, 1760, Mary Cause,
d. April 5, 1780, bur. at Barling, having had one dau., Mary, born Jan. 9,
1774. Judith, the dau. of Asser and Judith, m. Robert Hust, of Sutton Hall,
and d. Feb. 7, 1778. The other children of Asser Vassall, of Barling, and Mary,
nie Spencer: George Vassall, of Mucking Hall, born May 11, 1700, d. 1773,
s.p., bur. at Barling ; Mary, born 1699, d. Sept. 2, 1700 ; Mary, born Feb. 21,
1701, d. Nov. 2, 1703 ; Elizabeth, born Feb. 7, 1703, d. Feb. 27, 1704 ; Susanna,
born Jan. 17, 1704, d. May 25, 1705 ; Elizabeth, born March 25, 1705, d.
6 John Vassall and his Descendants
Jan. ii, 1715 ; Susanna, born Feb. 9, 1706; Stephen, born Jan. 28, 1707,
d. April 13, 1 712 ; Mary, born Jan. 1, 1708, m. Trotter ; Susanna, born
Jan. 4, 1709, m. Robjent ; Elizabeth, born July 4, 1710 ; Stephen, born
July 3, 171 1, d. Sept. 6, 1715 ; Stephen, born Oct. 23, 1712 ; Elizabeth, born
Nov. 4, 1713 ; Elizabeth, born Jan. 21, 1715, m. Sept. 28, 1732, Edward
Netherwood, at Barling; Sarah, born Jan. 18, 1716, d. May 8, 1717 ; and
Stephen, born Feb. 1, 1717, d. Oct. 8, 1717.
Returning to the children of John and Judith Vassall : Thomas, born
April 7, 1602, m. at St. Nicholas Aeons, London, June 27, 1625, marriage
licence dated London, June 25, to Anne Dickenson ;^ he was mentioned in
his father's will, April 29, 1625, and was alive Aug. 29, 1650. Anne, born
Jan. 10, 1595, bapt. at Stepney, Jan. 10, 1595, m. Rev. John Jones, rector
of St. Nicholas Aeons, of whose estate she was executrix and who d. at
Highgate, co. Middlesex, May 14, bur. in St. Nicholas Aeons May 15, 1636 ;
will dated April 18, 1636, proved May 3, 1637, in the Consistory of London,
259 Allen ; she d. and was bur. in St. Nicholas Aeons July 24, 1640 ; will
dated May 9, 1640, proved July 27, 1640 (P.P.C., 104 Coventory) . Elizabeth,
m. at St. Nicholas Aeons, Jan. 20, 1625 ; licence dated Jan. 10, then aged
17 years ; to Henry Church, of Wapping, co. Middlesex, mariner, aged about
22, Jan. 19, 1624-5, living May 9, 1640 ; she was mentioned in the will of
Peter Andrewes, her brother-in-law, of Aug. 29, 1650. Rachel, m. Peter
Andrewes, merchant, of London ; she was the administratrix of her husband,
whose will was dated Aug. 29, 1650, and on which administration was granted
Oct. 3, 1650 (P.P.C., 104 Pembroke). Mary, m. Edward West, of Ratcliffe,
mariner, who was living Nov. 9, 1638 ; she was mentioned in the will of
her sister Anne, May 3, 1640.
(1) 2 SAMUEL VASSALL, of St. George's, Southwark, co. Surrey, and of
Bedale, co. York, citizen and cloth worker, bapt. at Stepney June 5, 1586, an
incorporator of the Massachusetts Company in 1628 and a patentee of lands
in Massachusetts. He was M.P. of London in 1639-41, Commissioner of
the Plantations in 1642, took the Covenant in 1643, in 1646 was appointed
a Commissioner for the conservation of peace with Scotland. In Sept.,
1628, he was imprisoned for refusing to pay the tax of tonnage and poundage ;
he was excluded from the Commons Dec. 6, 1648; d. in New England.
Administration on his estate was granted Sept. 24, 1667 (P.C.C.) (see
Dictionary of National Biography, vol. lviii, p. 157). In 1766 his great grand-
nephew, Florentius Vassall (54), erected a monument in his memory in
King's Chapel, Boston, Mass., on which is inscribed the following : —
Sacred to the Memory of
SAMUEL VASSALL Esq. of London Merchant
one of the original proprietors of the lands
of this Country
a steady and undaunted
assertor of the Liberties of ENGLAND
In 1628
he was the first who boldly refused to submit' to the Tax
of Tonnage and Poundage
an unconstitutional claim of the Crown
arbitrarily imposed
For which (to the ruin of his family)
his goods were seized and his person imprisoned by the
Star Chamber Court
He was chosen to represent the City of
LONDON
in two successive Parliaments, which met Apr. 13 & Nov. 3
1640
The Parliament in July T641 voted him
,£10,445 i2.y. id.
for his Damages,
and resolved that he should be further considered
[Second panel]
for his personal Sufferings ;
But the rage of the times & neglect of
proper applications since,
have left to his family only the honour of that
Vote and Resolution.
John V assail and his Descendants j
He was one of the largest Subscribers
to raise money
against the Rebels in IRELAND :
all these facts may be seen in the Journals
of the House of Commons
He was the Son of
the gallant JOHN VASSALL
who in 1588
at his own expense, fitted out & commanded two Ships of War
with which he joined the Royal Navy
to oppose
The SPANISH ARMADA
Failing to recover the amount of his damages, he petitioned Parliament
Jan. 23, 1657, showing that he had endured imprisonment for about sixteen
years, and had been stripped of his goods ; that, despite the Vote of Parlia-
ment, "he had not received one penny," that ^2,591 175. 6d. had been lent
to the Parliament by him in Ireland " in their great straights ", that
^3,328 2s. yd. were due for the service of one of his ships, and, besides all this,
another vessel, the Mayflower,1 had, when laden and manned, been taken
and made use of against the enemy " to the overthrow of his voyage and his
great loss ". His name headed the subscription list to raise money against
the rebels in Ireland, and his whole life was indicative of the energy and
liberality which characterized so many of his family. He m. Frances,
the dau. of Abraham Cartwright, of St. Andrew's Undershaft, London,
citizen and draper, by Joan his wife, dau. of William Wade, of Bilderson,
co. Suffolk, clothier ; she is mentioned in the will of her husband's stepsister,
Rachael Vassall, Aug. 29, 1650, and had issue : Samuel, d. young sine
prole ; John, born 1619, m. Mary , and on his death sine prole : she
m. John Harvey, of Finningley Hall2; Abraham, died young; Francis,
living in 1667, m. Alice , and had issue Samuel, Francis, Henry, and
Elizabeth, all living in 1664 : Henry, d. sine prole in 1667, probably in Carolina,
administration on his estate was granted to his brothers, Francis and Samuel
Vassall, executors of deceased, pending a suit Oct. 3, 1667 ; Samuel, of
St. George's, Southwark, living in 1667, m. April 24, 1660, to Margaret Wray,
of St. Andrew's Undershaft, had one son, Samuel, living in 1664 ; Frances,
d. young sine prole, and Mary, of St. George's, Southwark, m. first Robert
Arnold, of St. Mary, Aldermary, in Oct.,1661, and onjiis death she m. secondly
Charles Cliff e, who was living in 1667, and by whom she had a son living in
1664.
(1) 3 WILLIAM VASSALL, of Rayleigh, Massachusetts, Scituate, and
Barbados, born and bapt. at Stepney, Aug. 27, 1592, m. June 9, 1613, Anne,
the dau. of George King, of Cold Norton, co. Essex yeoman, licence dated
June 9, and had issue: Anne, born Sept. 6, andd. Sept. 22, 161 4, at Cold Norton ;
4 Judith ; 5 Frances ; Samuel and Mary (twins), born June 22, 1624 ; Samuel,
d. at Rayleigh Nov. 10, 1624, and Mary, d. young ; William, d. young ; 6 John;
1 Anne ; 8 Margaret ; and 9 Mary. William Vassall was the first of his name
who went to New England ; he was an assistant in the Massachusetts Bay
Co., and one of the original patentees of New England lands. At a formal
meeting of the Governor and Company held in July, 1629, ne» with others,
was appointed "to go over ", which he did, but returned to England, after
a short stay, in the ship Lyon. On July 17-20, 1635, he embarked in the
Blessing, Jo. Lecester master, with his wife, five daughters, and one son, for
New England. Upon his arrival in that country it would seem that he
settled, first in Roxbury, for the church registry of that town has the following
entry, made by the Rev. John Eliot in his account of the church members :
" Mrs. Anna Vassaile — the wife of Mr. Willia Vassaile — her husband five
children to this land, Judith, Frances, John, Margaret, Mary " (this is an
error, as there were six children, Judith, Frances, John, Ann, Margaret, and
Mary ; the latter was 1 year old, as appears in the list of the passengers of
1 It would be interesting to know if the Mayflower of Samuel Vassall was the Mayflower
that earlier had taken the founders of New Plymouth to that place. The name was a common
one for ships, however.
- Will as of London Merchant dated Feb. 29, 1664, proved March 30, 1665 (29 Hyde).
8 John Vassall and his Descendants
the Blessing on that voyage). How long he remained at Roxbury is not
known. In Nov. 1636 he was connected with the church at Scituate, in
Plymouth, in which town Deane says he erected a house in 1635 on land
laid out to him by order of the Court, and which he called West Newland.
He took the oath of fidelity at Scituate, Feb. 1, 1638. In December, 1639, a
licence was granted to him " to make an oyster bed in North River " before
his house. In 1642 he was chosen one of a council of war, aggressions having
been threatened by the Narragansetts, and in 1643 his name appeared on
the militia roll. In 1644-5 he was prominently concerned in, the division of
the church at Scituate, and the settlement of Mr. Witherell, over the dis-
affected portion, against the advice and protestations of the churches at
Plymouth and Marshfield. The separation of the churches arose partially
from the views held by its pastor, the Rev. Charles Chauncy, upon the
ordinance of baptism, with whom Mr. Vassall had early disputed on doctrinal
points. (For an interesting discussion on the subject see Deane's Scituate.)
In 1646 he sailed for England in the Supply, in aid of a petition for the
redress of wrongs in the Government, and never returned, but in 1648 removed
to Barbados, and d. in 1655, aged 63 years. His will is dated at Barbados
July 31, 1655, and he describes himself as " now resident in this Island ",
and it was proved June 12, 1657 (246 Ruthen). In it he states: ''My son-in-law
Nichs Ware and his wife. Anna, my daur. My daughter Margaret Vassall
and my daughter Mary Vassall. My son Jno. My daurs. Judith, wife of
Resolved White, Frances the wife of James Adams, Anna the wife of Nichs
Ware. My estate and effects to be equally divided between them. My son
John sole Executor." On May 8, 1656, Capt. Joshua Hubbard, of Higham,
was appointed attorney for the sale of the Scituate estate, by virtue of two
writings, one signed by Resolved White and James Adams, Feb. 18, 1656,
and the other by Margaret and Mary Vassall, March 3, 1655-6. The estate
was conveyed by Joshua Hubbard to John Cushen and Mathyas Briggs,
for the sum of ^120, and consisted of about 120 acres, with house and barn.
The deed was signed by Joshua Hubbard, Resolved White, and Judith, his
wife, and James Adams, July 18, 1657.
(3) 4 JUDITH VASSALL, born in 1619, joined the church at Scituate
May 14, 1637, m. Resolved White at Scituate, April 8, 1640, and d. circa
1670. Children were : William, born 1642 ; John, born 1644 ; Samuel, born
1646 ; Resolved, born 1648 ; Anna, born 1649 ; Elizabeth, born 1652 ; Josiah,
born 1654 ; and Susannah, born 1656.
Harris states that Resolved was a son of William and Susannah White and elder brother
of Peregrine White. He removed from Scituate to Marshfield in 1662, where he remained until
1670. Deane says that none of his children settled at Scituate, their posterity being found in
Plymouth and Bristol Counties, and some removed to Barbados.
(3) 5 FRANCES VASSALL, born in 1623, m. James Adams (who Harris
says, was the son of John who went to New England in the ship Fortune
in 1 62 1. Farmer states that he d. in 1651, but his name was attached to
a deed as late as 1657) ; m. at Marshfield, July 16, 1646. Children were :
William, born 1647 '» Anna, born 1649 ; Richard, born 1651 ; Mary, born
1653 ; and Margaret, born 1654.
(3) 6 JOHN VASSALL, born in 1625, was Deputy for Clarendon, co.
S. Carolina, and in 1643 his name was on the Militia roll of Scituate ; free-
holder in 1647 ; lieutenant under Cudworth in 1652 ; and later bore the
rank of captain. Dec. 16, 1652, he sold his house in Boston with the lands
attached to Mark Hands " Naylor " for ^59. Hands states that in 1661 he
sold his Scituate estates and removed, it is supposed, to the West Indies-
(Jamaica), but later, according to Savage, " was engaged in the settlement at
Cape Fear, N.C., and in 1657 applied for relief to be sent to himself and
followers." From the State papers relating to Jamaica, it appears that
Sir Thomas Lynch, the then Governor of that Island, wrote March 10, 1672,
" from Virginia comes one John Vassall, a sober rational man," and in the
Minutes of Council, July 2, 1672, appears : " Col. John Vassall has brought
from Virginia several conveyances from Mrs. Anne Toft ( ? ) , of Virginia, relating
John Vussall and his Descendants 9
to her 4,000 acres of land in St. Elizabeth parish which she is going to give
up." And again, " Col. Vassal and Mordecai Royes to undertake the drawing
of a most exact and particular map of the whole Island." In 1673 he was
thus engaged as Sir Thomas Lynch in forwarding a true account of all the
families in the Island, excepted St. Elizabeth, stating that it was occasioned
by Col. Vassall's absence, about the survey of the Island. His name does
not appear again in the State papers. It is highly probable that he had
visited Jamaica before his final move there in 1672, as his name appears in
a deed recorded in the Record Office of the Island libro 10, but the nature
of the deed is unfortunately wanting, but libro 11 is the record of a
conveyance purporting to be by Hender Molesworth, who was President
of the Council in 1674, and who was created a bart. in 1689, the executor of
the will of Sir Thomas Modyford to John Vassall, dated Jan. 27, 1669, of
1,000 acres of land near the mouth of the Black River on " Luana Bay ", in
the parish of St. Elizabeth, which confirms the statement of Harris that he
was supposed to have gone to the West Indies after he sold his Scituate
estates. He died in 1688, and his will dated Aug. 10, 1684, was proved in
Jamaica- July 6, 1688 ; by it he devised " my temporal estate, my children
being young and the estate in debt and not fitt to be divided, nor they to
receive it, and theire mother while she lives willing to improve itt and to
give them the best education shee can, I doe therefore freely give and bequeath
unto my said wife and executrix, ^nn Vassall, my whole estate, etc., etc."
He named his three eldest sons, John, William, and Lewis, but refers to his
four youngest as "my four youngest sonnes", though he directs that "^20
sterling per annum is to be layed out at Port Royal or from thence shipped to
New England yearly for the maintenance of my sonn, Samuel Vassall, at the
College there". Harris, in his Vassals of New England, made a mistake in
stating that Anna Lewis was the wife of John Vassall, the son of Samuel Vassall,
as hereinbefore mentioned, the latter m. Mary — , and on her husband's
death in 1664 sine prole she m. one, John Harvey. Anna Vassall's name
seems to have been indifferently spelt — she spelt it Anna, but her husband
Ann. John Vassall had seven sons at the time of his death : 10 John ; 11
William ; 12 Lewis ; 13 Samuel ; 14 Leonard ; 15 Florentius. No record can
be found of the seventh, but it is clear that he was alive at his father's death,
as evidenced by his inclusion in the number of his sons. A Lieut. Vassall was
killed at the repulse of the French at Carlisle Bay, Jamaica, in 1694, wno was
Col. Clayborn's staff-captain, and as Col. Clayborn, who was also killed, was
the Colonel of the St. Elizabeth militia, it is not difficult to assume that he
was John Vassall's seventh son, especially as the Vassall estates were in
St. Elizabeth. John Vassall, by his will, advised his sons as to the selection
of their horses, etc., and the disposal thereof, to get the " advice and assistance
of some of their uncles that know them to be theires ". Their father had no
brother, and there were clearly no other Vassalls in Jamaica, the uncles must
therefore have been maternal, as there were many of the name of Lewis in
and about St. Elizabeth where John Vassall's estates were and evidently
their presence and interest influenced him to settle amongst them
in the south-west of the Island. John Vassall's widow survived him
many years, and she seems to have earned the confidence that her
husband reposed in her, and the right to the affectionate terms in which
she is referred to by her sons. A Patent of Naturalization was granted
to her on July 20, 1685 ; previous to that date all patents to land were granted
to John Vassall, but after patents were made to her of 480 acres of land in
St. Elizabeth, in which she was described as a widow. Anna Vassall d. and
was bur. on Feb. 23, 1719-20, six months before her son, William. In
her will, dated Feb. 20, 1719, proved April 2, 1720, she bequeathed " all my
things in my sugn box (?), according to memories in the said box, to my
granddaughters ". She also gave " my cousin, Scott in England, the sum of
ten pounds yearly on the Exchange of London". Her son, William 11,
was her residuary legatee and devisee in tail with the remainder over to her
grandson, John 23, the son of her son Leonard 14 in tail, with remainder over
to her grandson, William 24, the son of her son Leonard in fee simple.
io John Vassall and his Descendants
(3) 7 ANN VASSALL, born in 1629, m. previously to July, 1655, to
Nicholas Ware, of Virginia, and settled probably in Barbados.
(3) 8 MARGARET VASSALL, born in 1633, bapt. at Rayleigh, co. Essex,
m. April 25, 1656, at St. Michaels, Barbados, to Joshua Hubbard. The
conveyance of her father's estate in Scituate was signed by Joshua Hubbard on
behalf of his late wife, July 18, 1657. In the settlement of the estate Comfort
Starr, physician, in 1659, the name of Margaret Vassall occurs as a debtor.
Harris has the following footnote in his sketch : — There seems to be some uncertainty in
regard to him (Nicholas Ware). In the MS. of President Styles, it is stated that the
Rev. Joshua Hobart H.C. 1650, son of Peter, sailed for Barbados, July 16, 1655 ;
married there April 6, 1656, Margaret Vassall ; sailed from thence to London, where he
arrived July 5, 1656 ; returned to New England, where he arrived September 5, 1669 ; and
where his wife died "four days after". He married second Mary Rainsford, of Boston, and
removed to Southold, Nassau Island, where he died in winter of 1716-27. By his wife Margaret
he had three (?) children. How to reconcile this statement with the wording of the deed of sale
of her father's Scituate estate, we are at a loss to know, and are content to relinquish the matter
to some more persevering enquirer. Joshua Hubbard, the husband of Margaret Vassall, was
evidently a different individual from the captain of the same name who acted attorney for the
sale of William Vassall's estate.
(3) 9 MARY VASSALL, born in England in 1634, m. in St. Michael's,
Barbados, to Benjamin Caine on May 11, 1657.
(6) 10 JOHN VASSALL m. a dau. of Sir W. Wilmott, the sister of William
Wilmott, and by her had three children : 16 John ; 17 William ; and 18 Anna.
He died in 1701, before any of his children had arrived at their majority.
He appointed his four brothers his executors, but did not name them ; their
names, however, have been arrived at from the record of a certificate dated
March 11, 1701, and recorded libro 13, folio 47, of the records of deeds in
the Record Office in Jamaica, in which William Vassall, Leonard Vassall, and
Florentius Vassall " are willing and content that our brother, Samuel Vassall
act as sole guardian to John Vassall, a minor, son and heir to our brother,
Jno. Vassall, late of the parish of St. Elizabeth, Esqre., deed." On the date
that William Vassall signed this appointment of Samuel Vassall as sole
guardian of the minor, John Vassall, he executed a renunciation of his
executorship under the will of his brother, John Vassall, which will was dated
Dec. 15, 1700, and proved in Jamaica April 5, 1701. It is clear that on
March 11, 1701, four of the seven brothers were alive.
(10) 16 JOHN VASSALL m. Elizabeth, the dau. of Ordoardo Lewis, who
was Member of the Assembly of the parish of St. Elizabeth, Jan. 1 701-3, and
Westmorland 1707, and had issue: 19 William, 20 John, and 21 Elizabeth.
He died in 1728, and by his will, dated March 26, 1728, proved in Jamaica
Nov. 29, 1728, he devised a moiety of his estate to his wife and the other
moiety to his son, William, he paying the legacies bequeathed. He appointed
his wife executrix " during widowhood, but if she ' marrys ' then my will and
meaning is that my brothers-in-law, Lewis Williams and Andrease Lewis,
shall jointly have the care and management of my estate with my wife, etc."
He bequeathed to his daughter Elizabeth £1,000, and a negro girl, the child
of her nurse. He bequeathed to his sister Anna 18, the wife of Samuel
Smith, the bond which her husband had given him ; he bequeathed to his
son John £2,000, and gave him a remainder over in all his estates devised to
his son William ; and he gave his daughter Elizabeth the ultimate remainder
in his estates in the case of the death of her brothers sine prole. His dau.
Elizabeth m. one William Foster, of Bedford, England, as appears by a
deed dated Sept. 1, 1765, in which the will of her father is recited and her
husband and herself are mentioned as of Bedford. John Vassall, the
grandson of the testator, is a party thereto of the third part.
(10) 17 WILLIAM VASSALL. No record can be found of this member of
the family, but the mention of him in his father's will, and also that of his
uncle, 11 William Vassall, who bequeathed to him the sum of £100.
(10) 18 ANNA VASSALL. The name of this member of the family
appears in her father's will. She m. Feb. 26, 17 16, William Lewis, who
d. Dec. 28, 1717, intestate and sine prole ; she then m., July 22, 1718, Samuel
Smith, the first cousin of William Lewis, and she and her husband, Smith,
John V assail and his Descendants n
were parties to an appeal to the Privy Council. Evidently he was the Samuel
Smith who was a Member of the House of Assembly for the parish of
Clarendon in 1722 and who was unseated as member for Vere in 1725. Anna
Vassall was referred to in her uncle Samuel's will as " Anna, the dau. of my
brother Major John Vassall ", in 1713. William Vassall in 1720 made a
bequest" unto my niece Anna Smith ". Her brother John in 1720 bequeathed
to her the bond which her husband Samuel Smith had given to him, and he
also gave her an annuity of ^100 current money of Jamaica. Her uncle
Leonard also mentions her as having bought from her some plate which had
belonged to her grandmother, Anna Vassall.
(16) 19 WILLIAM VASSALL, born 1720, m. Valeria Senior, the sister of
Christopher Senior, who was the son of Bernard Senior, the first husband
of Margaret, who m. secondly in 1735 Hugh White, Member of Assembly
for Westmorland Jam. in 1770, and they were the parents of Mary White,
the wife of John Vassall, next hereinafter referred to. William Vassall
d. and was bur. on June 28, 1745. By his will, dated Aug. 8, 1744, and
proved in Jamaica March (?) 21, 1745, he devised to his wife the dwelling-
house he then lived in at Luana in St. Elizabeth, with the run of land
belonging thereto, for her life inter alia, and he devised the remainder of his
estate to his son 20a John. He appointed his wife executrix, and his " trusty
and beloved friend " Hugh White guardian of his children (?) and executor
of his will, and in case he should leave the island he appointed his brother-in-
law and " good friend Christopher Senior " guardian and trustee, and in case
of his death or leaving the island he appointed William Foster guardian
and trustee (vide 16 John Vassall for William Foster). On March 20, 1745,
he made a codicil to his will, in which he stated that his wife had been
delivered of a child (Elizabeth) which had d. (bur. March 5, 1744), and
directed that in case all (?) his children should die, then half of his estate
should vest in his wife and the other half in his brother 20 John, with
remainder over to his#wife in fee simple. In 1751 a Private Act was passed
by the Legislature of the island vesting certain tracts of land in the parish
of St. Elizabeth, part of the estate of William Vassall, in certain Trustees,
therein named, including 20 John Vassall and Christopher Senior, the paternal
and maternal uncles of the infant, to sell for the benefit of the eldest son
and heir-at-law, John Vassall, a minor. The children of William and Valeria
Vassall were : 20a John and Elizabeth, a child mentioned above.
(16) 20 JOHN VASSALL m. Feb. 9, 1758, Mary White, referred to in the
reference to William Vassall immediately preceding ; she d. and was bur.
Aug. 24, 1758, sine prole. John Vassall, in his will, dated Oct. 17, 1769,
proved in Jamaica Oct. 6, 1770, referred to his " trusty friend 32 Lewis
Vassall", and appointed him one of the executors of his will, by which he
devised all his estate to his nephew 20a John Vassall. He d. and was bur.
on Jan. 24, 1770, apparently not having married again. In his will he refers
to a free mulatto woman named Rose, and her three children, Elizabeth,
Leonard, and Mary, evidently his progeny by the free mulatto woman,
as there is on record a will, dated Jan. 1796, of one, Elizabeth Vassall, and
she refers to land devised to her by her late father, John Vassall, in the Luana
Mountains adjoining Giddy Hall Penn, called " Purgatory".
(19) 20a JOHN VASSALL m. May 16, 1776, Elizabeth Brooks, and had
one dau., Valeria, who was born Aug. 12, 1778, and d. and was bur. Jan. 26,
x779- Jonn Vassall d. in 1779 ; he was the last male descendant of 10 John
Vassall. He devised to his wife all that part of Luana called Pond Penn,
with the household furniture and effects and certain slaves and their increase
for her life ; he bequeathed to his near relation, Edward Dennis, of
St. Elizabeth, ^1,000; he bequeathed to his aunt, Margaret Stone, of
Westmorland, widow (she was the widow of Theodore Stone, who was the
first of the name to come to Jamaica), to his aunt, Bonella Bowen, and to
Margaret Wallace, of St. Elizabeth, to Hugh White, to Jane Senior and
Margaret Rowe, the daus. of Christopher Senior, ^50 each ; to Anne Williams,
^100 ; to his mother-in-law, Deborah Brooks, an annuity of ^100 ; to his
12 John V assail and his Descendants
dearly beloved wife, Elizabeth Vassall, his good friends and relations, Hugh
White, of Westmorland, and Peter Campbell, of Hanover, all those four
parcels of land lying to the north-east of Y.S. (Wye Esse) Estate, in trust
for sale, for the benefit of his estate, and in trust for his dau. Valeria in fee ;
and in case of her death in trust for 32 Lewis Vassall with remainder over in
tail for 33 Florentius Vassall. His wife and his friends Hugh White and
Peter Campbell were appointed guardians of the persons and estate of
Valeria his dau., and Lewis and Florentius Vassall for the purposes of his
will, which was dated Nov. 20, 1778, and proved Aug. 9, 1779.
(6) 11 WILLIAM VASSALL m. Sarah Monicat Paine, the dau. of Thomas
Paine, who on June 15, 1673, patented " Cavaretta " in St. Elizabeth (now
Westmorland). William Vassall d. and was bur. Aug. 6-7, 1720, sine prole.
His will is a lengthy one, and by it inter alia he gave a legacy to his cousin
John Crossley, the son of Col. John Crossley, also to his cousin William
Campbell, the son of Col. John Campbell, who had been Custos of St. Elizabeth,
and who d. Jan. 29, 1740, and his body was interred in a private burial
ground (at Hodges) in St. Elizabeth ; he was descended from the ancient
family of Auchenbrook, went as a captain to Darien, and on his return m.
the dau. of Col. Clayborne, who was killed at Carlisle Bay, on the occasion
of the invasion of Jamaica by the French, and by her had several children.
William Vassall also gave a legacy to his cousin and god-son, John Williams,
the son of his cousin Rowland Williams ; also to his god-son William Ricketts,
the son of William Ricketts or Ricards, who had been a captain in the army
of conquest, and who settled in Westmorland, than called St. Elizabeth,
where he patented 8,600 acres of land between 1868 and 1699. William
Vassell devised and bequeathed the rest and residue of his estate to his
" loving wife " for her life, with remainder over in tail, to his nephew, 16 John
Vassall, the son of his brother, John Vassall, with remainder over in fee to
his nephew, 24 William Vassall, the son of his brother Leonard. William
was M.A. for the parish of St. Elizabeth 1703, Westmorland 1705, St. Mary
1707, St. Ann 1709-13, and St. David's 1718-19. His widow m. Henry
Stout, of Westmorland, who was M.A. St. Elizabeth 1722, Westmorland
1724, and Member of the Council in 1726. John Vassall, the residuary legatee
and devisee, brought a suit in Chancery Vassall v. Stout, which was heard
in the Jamaica Court. William Vassall's will was dated Aug. 4, 1720, and
proved in Jamaica on the 10th of the same month.
(6) 12 LEWIS VASSALL. The only record of this member of the family,
other than the mention in his father's will, is the record of a lease by him
for nine years of "Carawina" and wharf and stock, etc., near " Carbarreta",
by Bonella Jennings, widow, on Sept. 16, 1690. It is evident that he had
no real estate nor did he leave a will.
(6) 13 SAMUEL VASSALL was at Harvard College at his father's death,
as appears by the direction for the remittance of money to him every year.
He was Member of Assembly for Kingston in 1707-11 and for Vere in 171 1 ;
and he was Speaker pro tern, in 171 1. He describes himself in his will as of
St. Katherine ; the will was dated July 11, 171 1, and proved by his widow,
the executrix, June 9, 1714. The register of marriages was very imperfectly
kept, and the only record of his m. is " 1710-11, Mar. 15, Samuel Vassall,
Esqre., and Elizabeth Young, Vere ". Nothing more, but from the will of
his widow, dated Aug. 19, 1726, it appears that she had been a widow at
her marriage to Samuel Vassall, and that she evidently already had had two
husbands," as she gave a legacy to her brother, John Yearmouth, and she
referred to her former husband, " Mr. John Mosely," and in the record of her
marriage to Samuel Vassall she is named Young. She devised her Penn,
near Passage Fort, to Richard Mill ; this was the Richard Mill who had
m. the widow of 15 Florentius Vassall and who gave a deputation to
54 Florentius Vassall on May 25, 1730, to act as Receiver-General of Jamaica.
Samuel Vassall made his nieces 18 Anna and 55 Bathsua his residuary devisees
and legatees, in the case of the failure of heirs of the body of his brother
14 Leonard, to whom he had devised the rest and residue of his estate in tail.
John V assail and his Descendants 13
He left a legacy to " my dear kind mother ", and a mourning ring to his brother
Leonard. He died apparently sine prole.1
(6) 14 LEONARD VASSALL, born June, 1678 ; was twice m., first to
Ruth Gale, who was born in Jamaica, Sept. 30, 1685. At this period it is
almost impossible to accurately state whose dau. she was, as the records of
births and deaths for the parish of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, were not kept before
the year 1707, but it is most probable that she was the dau. of Col. Jonathan
Gale, the Custos of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, and Member of Assembly for
that parish 1 709-11, and for Westmorland (which had been separated from
St. Elizabeth in 1703) in 172 1-2 and 1725, and who d. in 1727. Children
were : Samuel, born Nov. 5, d. Mar. 1703-4 ; Lewis, born May 29, 1703,
d. Sept. 3, 1703 ; Mary, born Nov. 12, 1704, d. Aug. 11, 1708 ; Anna, born
Jan. 20, 1706-7, d. young ; Boar do, born July 9, 1708, d. young ; 21 Lewis,
born Aug. 10, 1709; a son born Aug. 2, 1711, d. young; 22 Ruth, born
Aug. 17, 1712 ; 23 John, born Sept. 7, 1713 ; 24 William, born Nov. 23, 1715 ;
25 Elizabeth, born July 16, 1717 ; a dau. born and d. Jan. 1718-19 ; 26 Sarah,
born Sept. 19, 1720, d. an infant ; 27 Henry, born Dec. 25, 1721 ; 28 Mary,
born June 25, 1723 ; 29 Susanna, born Nov. 20, 1725-6 ; a son, still-born,
Oct. 15, 1729. His wife Ruth d. in Boston, and was bur. Mar. 14, 1733 ;
he then m. at Christ Church, Boston, April 16, 1734, Phcebe Cross, who was
the dau. of Samuel Penhallow, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, born Jan. 14,
1694-5. She had m. Captain Gross, of Charlestown, Mass., secondly
the Hon. Thomas Greaves, of Charlestown, and fourthly Francis Borland,
of Boston, and d. April 3, 1775, at the age of 80 years; by her Leonard
Vassall had one dau., 30 Anna. He died in Boston June 20, 1737, and was
bur. June 23. He removed to Boston before July 24, 1723, on which day his
dau. Mary was baptized at King's Chapel. He was early connected with
Christ Church, and was elected Warden April 3, 1727, where he continued
to worship, at intervals at least, for the remainder of his life. In 1730-3 he
was instrumental in founding Trinity Church, Boston. The original building
was erected on land conveyed by him in 1730 to John Barnes, John Gibbin,
and William Speakman for the* sum of ^514 7s. 2d., which land with the
tenements he had purchased of William Speakman, baker, April 25, 1728,
for ^450. The lot, now coverecj by the present church, was bounded 86 feet
on Seven Starr Lane (Summer Street) and 169 feet on Bishop's Lane (Hawley
Street), and is nearly opposite the estate which he had purchased in April,
1727, of Simon Stoddard, and where he resided until his death. His estates
in Braintree were large and valuable, consisting of 2J acres of orchard,
purchased of Benj. Viesey, yeoman, Mar. 1730, for ^100 ; 24 acres of upland
and meadow, and 2 acres salt marsh, purchased of Edmund Wilson, yeoman,
same date, for ^468 ; three lots of 15, 11, and 5 acres respectively, purchased
of Thomas Crosbey, innholder, same date, for ^725 ; one-half of 56 acres
farm land, with one-fourth of house and barn, together with one-half of
17 acres of woodland and swamp, purchased of Obed Hussey, mariner, of
Nantucket, Oct. 1733, for £725 (this last property was conveyed by deed
of gift to his son-in-law, Benj. Stedman, June 6, 1734, and re-conveyed to
Obed Hussey, for the original sum of ^525 on July 3, 1735) ; 5 acres of wood-
land, purchased of Benj. Owen, cordwainer, May 13, 1734 ; 8 acres purchased
of Mahatabel Fisher, of Dedham, May 28, 1736, for ^200 bills of credit ;
7 acres of woodland, purchased of Ebenezer Field, housewright, for ^33 25s. ;
and 10 acres of woodland, purchased of William Field, housewright, May, 1737,
for ^100. His will, entered upon Suffolk Probate, is dated June 10, 1737 ;
we have space here but for a few brief extracts. To his dau. Ruth he gave
55., in addition to the marriage portion already given her. To his daughters
Elizabeth and Mary respectively he gave ^1,000, to be paid out of the rents
and profits of his " Plantation and Sugarworks in Luana, in the parish of
St. Elizabeth in Jamaica ". To his dau. Susanna he gave a like amount,
1 It appears from the foregoing which has been obtained from the Record Office of Jamaica
that four of the five eldest sons of John and Anna Vassall died without issue, and the issue of the
fifth John terminated on the death of his great great grand-daughter Valeria in 1779 (vide 19/20*2).
14 John V assail and his Descendants
together with certain plate he had purchased from Samuel Smith, and wife
18 Anna (his niece, the dau. of his eldest brother John), " so that she might
have an equal share with her sisters in their grandmother's plate." After
the statement of certain conditions relating to the foregoing bequests the
will proceeds : " Whereas the Land and Soil of my before mentioned
Plantation and Sugarworks at Luana is entailed upon my son Lewis, after
my Decease, but the Negroes, Cattle, Utensils, and Stock thereon, and all
appurces thereunto belonging, as likewise my Land, Negroes, Cattle, and
appurces at New Savanna, as also sixty acres of land in Luana near the
Middle Quarter Road, and joyning the Estate formerly of Col. Cames, were
purchased by me. ... I give and bequeath the use of all my Negroes, Cattle,
Utensils, and Stock wch shall be on the said plantations . . . unto my sd son
Lewis." " Item whereas there was a certain agreement between my Hond.
mother Anna Vassall deced. and myself that so much of her estate that she
should be pleased to give unto Me at her decease should instead thereof be
given by her unto my beloved son John ; and whereas I have by one certain
Deed, by me duly executed, made a further provision for my s<* son and his
Heirs, I do therefore, in consideration thereof, hereby only give and devise
unto my said son John the sum of five shillings." " Item, I give and
bequeath unto my beloved son William and his Heirs forever, all my Right,
Estate, Title, and Interest which I now have in a certain Sugar Plantation,
Works, and Buildings thereon, together with the Stoc}t, Negroes, and other
Implements wch shall be thereon at the time of my Decease, and wch I lately
possessed in partnership with Dugal Campbell, Gentn and is situate on Green
Island River, near Orange Bay, in the Parish of Hannover, at the West
End of Jamaica, and Joyning the Plantation I have given by Deed unto my
Son John and his Heirs as aforesaid ; I also give unto my said son William
and his Heirs forever the one-half of three hundred acres of mountain Land
situate in the said parish of Hannover and Joyning to the estate of my said
son John, the other half whereof I have already given my said Son William
by a Deed of Gift, which said several Devises are upon this Special Proviso
and Condition. . . . that he go before two Magistrates either during my
Life or immediately after my Decease, and before them solemnly make oath
that for the future he will not play any Game whatsoever to the value of
Twenty Shillings at any one time." To his wife Phcebe he gave the use of
his house estates at Braintree, so long as she continued his widow, " and a
profess'd member of the Episcopal Church of England " and no longer ;
and this in addition to ^3,000 given "unto her forever". The estate on
Summer Street, Boston, was sold by the executors, Dec. 8, 1737, to Thomas
Hubbard, for £600 ; it was bounded 68 feet on the street, south-east 268 feet
on land late of Hollingshead, " now of Church of Christ," south-west 67 feet
on Dyer, and north-west 268 feet on Sewald, Plantins, and Moss. Will
dated June 10, 1737 ; proved in Jamaica, Sept. 15, 1737.
(14) 21 LEWIS VASSALL, born in Jamaica Aug. 10, 1709, H.C. 1728,
m. Dorothy Macqueen, of Boston, Sept. 6, 1739 ; he d. at Braintree, Mass.,
Sept. 15, 1743 ; she d. Aug. 10, 1746, aged 28 years 9 months. They were
both bur. in the Episcopal graveyard at Braintree, where stones to their
memory were standing in 1862. He early settled at Braintree, and purchased
Aug. 17, 1742, of Thomas Hubbard, 2 \ acres there, with house and barn,
the quit-claim being signed July 27, 1749, when the estate was conveyed to
James Virchild, of the Island of St. Chiristophers. Feb. 26, 1742, he
purchased, of Benjamin Stedman, for ^3,000 old tenour, 10 acres with house
and barn, together with two separate lots of 43 acres, all of which was secured
by mortgage; the quit-claim was signed July 27, 1749, when the property
was included in that purchased by James Virchild, for .£4,400 old tenour.
He was churchwarden at the time of his death, having been elected on
Easter Monday, 1743. His will, registered at the Suffolk Probate, was
made Sept. 4, 1743. No exemplification appears to have been registered in
Jamaica, which shows that his only estate in that island was the entailed one,
of which his father had been tenant or settler, vide extract of his father'swill —
John V assail and his Descendants 15
To his dau. Anna he bequeathed ^2,000, to his wife ^300 yearly, and
the residue of his estate to his son Lewis ; Richard Bill and Jacob
Holyoake, of Boston, and his cousin John Gale, of Jamaica, were appointed
executors. Children were : 31 Anna, born July 23, 1740 ;• 32 Lewis, born
Sept. 16, 1 741 ; and Elizabeth, born Nov. 11, 1742, bapt. at Bridgewater
Nov. 23, 1742, and d. young.
(21) 31 ANNA VASSALL, born at Braintree, Mass., July 13, 1740, bapt.
Aug. 1, 1742 ; Richard Bill, of Boston, was appointed guardian, Nov. 20,
1 75 1 ; and 27 Henry Vassall, her uncle, Oct., 1757. She perhaps left the
country with her brother, who went to Jamaica, but no record of her can
be found there. •
(21) 32 LEWIS VASSALL, born at Braintree, Sept. 16, 1741, bapt. Aug. 1,
1742, H.C. 1760. He left New England soon after, and went to Jamaica,
where his estates were situated, and m. Eleanor Dove. He d. and was bur.
on Aug. 8, 1777. Children were : 33 Florentius, 34 Lewis, 35 George Gale,
and 36 Leonard. He was bur. in the family burial ground at Ruggles Pen,
but his tomb and those of his sons cannot be found, as their graves were
evidently never entombed. He was the " trusty friend " referred to by
20 John Vassall in his will, and to him was devised the remainder in John
Vassall's estate which, of course, vested on the death of John Vassall' s dau.
Valeria, in his son Florentius in 1779. Will dated Aug. 4, 1777, and proved
in Jamaica June 10, 1778.
(32) 33 FLORENTIUS VASSALL, born 1768, m. April 14, 1794, to
Elizabeth Farquharson, who was born on June 12, 1778. He d. and was
bur. in the Garden at Tophill, in the parish of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica,
Sept. 30, 1794. His widow m. on Oct. 24, 1796, John Salmon, of the parish
of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, and they were the parents of John Salmon, who
was born on Dec. 9, 1797, and was the last President of the Legislative
Council of Jamaica, before the change in the constitution of that island in
1866 ; he was also Custos of St. Elizabeth up to the time of his death.
(32) 34 LEWIS VASSALL, born on Nov. 7, 1769, and bapt. on the 12th
of the same month. There is no further record of him, except that administra-
tion on his estate was granted to his brother, George Gale Vassall, on May 1,
1796.
(32) 35 GEORGE GALE VASSALL, born on Sept. 1, 1771, and d. and was
bur. in the Garden at Tophill on July 18, 1797, There is no further record
of him, but administration was granted on his estate to Robert Vassall on
Dec. 23, 1797 (? to 64 Robert Oliver Vassall.)
(32) 36 LEONARD VASSALL, born on April 19, 1773, and d. and was
bur. in the Garden at Tophill on May 21, 1793. There is no other record
of him, and apparently left no estate, as there is no probate or Administration
on record. It is certainly inexplicable that these four brothers should have
all died so young.
(14) 22 RUTH VASSALL, born Aug. 17, 1712, in Jamaica, m. Benjamin
Stedman, of Milton, Mass., a physician, June 5, 1734 ; he d. previous to
Nov. 26, 1 75 1 ; she d. a widow at Braintree, Nov. 10, 1770, and was bur.
Nov. 14. Elisha Niles was appointed administrator of his estate Nov., 1751 ;
the inventories returned Mar. 16 and Oct. 26, 1753, appraised his property
at ^329 13s. yd., division in thirds made Mar. 29, 1754. Her name occurs,
in the list of communicants of Christ Church (Episcopal), Braintree, in 1764,
where all her children were baptized. Children were : Leonard, born Mar. 25,
1758, was assigned the real estate of his father in Milton by Judge of Probate ;
Jan. 14, 1760, appointed Wm. Vassall attorney for the conveyance of the same ;
he died abroad prior to June 27, 1761, styled " painter and stainer, formerly
of Boston, late of Jamaica " : John, born July 21, 1736 ; Oct. 2, 1753, was
" out of the Province " ; was alive July 29, 1757, and d. previous to May 19,
1758; Ruth, born Mar. 21, 1737 ; m. Jonathan Mills at Braintree, May 7,
1754, and May 19, 1758, was the wife of Benjamin Cleverly, jun., of Boston ;
Benjamin, born Oct. 18, 1739 ; June 26, 1761, was appointed administrator
of his brother Leonard's estate, then styled " mariner " of Boston ; Sarah,
16 John Vassall and his Descendants
bapt. Aug. 15, 1742 ; d. before October 2, 1753 ; Mary, bapt. Oct. 13, 1745 ;
d. before Oct. 2, 1753.
(14) 23 JOHN VASSALL (Colonel), born in Jamaica, Sept. 7, 1713, H.C.
1732, was twice m ; first to Elizabeth, daughter of Lieut. -Gov. Spencer
Phips, at Boston, Oct. 10, 1734, by whom he had three children ; she died
Sept. 22, 1739, aged 23, and was bur. at Cambridge, Sept. 25 ; secondly to
Lucy, only dau. of Jonathan Barran, of Chelmsford, by whom he had one
dau. ; he died at Cambridge, Nov. 27, 1747, and was bur. Dec. 2.
The following appears in a footnote in Harris' V assails of New England : —
Probably in the tomb which he erected in the graveyard there. The monument over it is
a massive free stone slab resting upon five columns ; it bears no inscription, only the heraldic
emblems of the family — the Vase and Sun — and forms one of the most conspicuous features in the
cemetery. It passed with the estate into the hands of Andrew Craigie, Esq., and is now owned
by the heirs. An examination was made June 24, 1862. Twenty-five interments have been made
in the vault, and in almost every case the coffin was found to be entire. Those which, from their
position at the farthest end of the vault, were supposed to contain the remains of Col. Vassall and
his first wife, were in fine preservation. Upon these two were placed three small coffins, one
marked "T. A. B., 1767", and another " E. V."; the third was in ruins. Besides these the
tomb is known to contain the remains of John Foster, died Nov. 1, 1836, aged 52 ; Andrew
Foster, M.D., died May 17, 1831, aged 50 ; Thomas Foster, M.D.,died February, i83i,aged46 ;
James and George Foster, died 1817 ; Elizabeth C. Haven, died Feb. 10, 1826 ; Mrs. Lydia By.
Haven, died 1836, and Andrew Craigie.
His widow survived him, m. Benjamin Ellery, Nov. 22, 1749, d. Oct. 19, 1752.
On Nov. ii, 1734, he with his wife conveyed to Ephraim Hutchinson one-
third of an estate near Milk Street, Boston, bounded north on Winslow and
Phips, south on Palmer, east on Daniel Oliver. July 26, 1736, he purchased
of Mercy Frizell, widow of Boston, for ^1,000, 7 acres in Cambridge, with house,
barn, etc., bounded north-east on Samuel Bull and Watertown Road (Brattle
Street) north-west on Patten, south-east on Bull and " highway to brick
wharf" (Ash Street). In this deed he is described of "Watertown".
Rev. L. R. Paige says that he erected the house now standing upon the
estate and occupied by Samuel Batchelder, esq. This property he sold,
Dec. 30, 1 74 1, to his brother Henry for ^9,050 old tenour, with all the furniture,
a " chariot ", " four-wheel chaise," and four horses, together with 30 acres
now in Brighton, bounded north on Charles River and east on " King's
highway, leading from Cambridge to Boston ", which he purchased Nov. 12,
1736, of John Hovey, clerk of York. Nov. 22, 1736, he bought of Joshua
Gamage, yeoman, for ^120, three-fourths of an acre, in Cambridge, with house
and barn, bounded south " on the common ", west on Rev. Thomas Foxcroft.
July 13, 1737, he purchased of Rebecca Patten, widow, for ^100, ij acres
adjoining his estate on the Watertown road, a part of which he gave his
brother Henry, Dec. 5, 1746. Aug. 15, 1741, he purchased of Moses Penniman,
of Braintree, cordwainer, for ^1,000, lands in Peterborough, and 200 acres in
Townsend and Lunenburg, which last he sold in March, 1742, to John Thomas,
of Braintree, and in Nov. 1742 he purchased of him other lands in Peterborough
for £55°- Nov. 27, 1741, he bought of Ebenezer Wyeth, the " Samuel Bull
estate " in Cambridge, for ^260, consisting of half an acre, with house,
adjacent to his brother Henry's estate, and which he sold to him March 31,
1747, for ^700 old tenour. Jan. 17, 1748, he purchased of Amos Marrett
6J acres on the north side of Watertown Road in Cambridge, and Oct. 8,
1746, 50 acres on the opposite side of the road, a portion of it being in Water-
town. On this estate he erected a house, and there he lived until his death.
His will, registered at Middlesex, was made Nov. 26, 1747. To his wife he
gave ^200 per annum for her life ; to each of his daughters, Ruth, Elizabeth,
and Lucy, 2i,ooo; to his sister, Elizabeth Miller, ^20 per annum. The residue
of his estate he left to his son John, providing for the payment of the above
sums out of the rents of his Jamaica estates. In a codicil dated Nov. 27 he
left his brothers-in-law, Ruggles and Prescott, ^100 each. Relinquishment of
her third of his estate by his widow was signed on Nov. 13, 1749- In the
inventory his north-eastern property was appraised at ^8,050 5s. old tenour.
It included 6 acres with " dwelling-house, wood-house, and little house
thereon ", and 50 acres opposite, lying in Cambridge, and valued at ^3,300 ;
John Vassall and his Descendants 17
a " landaret ", so-called, ^400 ; six horses, ^411 ; and two negro men, " Sicros
and Sezer " ^500. Mention is also made of lands in Peterborough and in
Hampshire county, of value unknown to the appraisers. Col. Vassall was
representative from Cambridge to the legislature in 1740 and 1747, and
details of two petty lawsuits in which he was involved at' the time are on
record. Children were : 37 Ruth, 38 John, 39 Elizabeth, and by his second
wife 40 Lucy. Will dated Nov. 6, 1747 ; probate granted Jan. 20, 1748.
(14) 24 WILLIAM VASSALL, born in Jamaica Nov. 23, 1715, H.C. 1733,
was twice m., first to Ann Davis, by whom he had eleven children ; she d.
Jan. 26, and was bur. on the 28th, 1760, aged 40 years. Secondly to Margaret
Hubbard ; she died at Battersea Rise, Surrey, England, Feb. 6, 1794, and
bur. at Battersea. He also d. at Battersea Rise, May 8, 1800, aged 85 ;
he was temporarily a resident in Jamaica in 1747-8, and afterwards resided
at Cambridge, Mass., for a short time, occupying the house afterwards owned
by the widow of Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse ; he was afterwards the possessor
of a magnificent estate near Bristol, R.I. Although styled of " Boston " he
was not, we believe, owner of any real estate there until 1758, when by a
deed, dated Sept. 11, he purchased for ^1,250 the Cooper estate on Pemberton
Hill ; it comprised within its limits the tract known as " Valley Achor ",
and had a frontage on Tremont Street of 163 feet. At the date of the purchase
he was occupying the dwelling-house upon the estate. March 16, 1774,
he purchased of Joseph Ruggles for ^300, a house and land in Boston, on
Queen Street, near the site of " Scollay's Buildings ". The Cooper estate,
where he lived until the Revolution, he conveyed through Dr. James Lloyd
to Leonard Vassall Borland,1 for the sum of ^4,000, the deed signed March 23,
1787, who sold it April 17, 1790, to Patrick Jeffery, then the occupant of
the premises. The Queen Street property was conveyed through Lloyd to
Jeffery Oct. 16, 1791, for ^160.
William Vassall was one of the most prominent of his name in New
England. He was High Sheriff for Middlesex, says the historian of Quincy
(Whitney, p. 61), and was appointed mandamus counsellor in 1774. He was
for many years connected with King's Chapel, Boston, and in 1785 protested
by proxy against the liturgy and the unauthorized ordination of James
Freeman. The elder Adams speaks of him in his writings in the warmest
praise, and mentions as his only fault his excessive garrulity. This failing
seems to have led him into trouble on one occasion. The details of the case
of Fletcher v. Vassall for slander and defamation of character were printed
at the time and circulated to some extent. A prominent man among the
loyalists in Boston, he was early singled out as an enemy to the popular
cause, and was obliged to flee with his family to England. He was banished
by the Legislature in 1778, and never returned. His Bristol estate was
confiscated by the Government, and the confiscation, says Lorenzo Sabine
in the Loyalist, gave rise to a singular suit ; as the Federal Constitution was
adopted a State could be sued, and at his instance, Massachusetts, in the
person of Hancock, her Chief Magistrate, was summoned to the Bar of the
Supreme Court of the United States. In March, 1787, he described himself
of "Battersea Rise ", and in Oct. 1791 "of Clapham Corner". Notwith-
standing his early predilection to gaming as implied in his father's will,
he wrought out for himself an honourable and unblemished reputation, and
church and society lost in him an eager, zealous advocate, an upright
Christian, and a generous loving friend. Children were : 41 Sarah, born
June 17, 1739; a son still-born, Feb. 3, 1741 ; 42 William, born June 12,
1743, d. June 15, 1743; William, born March 3, 1744 d. Nov. 6, 1744;
William, born March 2, 1747, d. March 15, 1747 ; Fanny, born Aug. 2, 1748,
d. Feb. 24, 1 75 1 ; 43 Liter etia Frances and 43# Fanny (twins), born Sept. 24,
1 75 1, bapt. Sept. 28, 1 75 1 ; 44 William, born Jan. 31, 1753 ; 45 Henry, born
March 23, 1755 ; 47 Catherine, born Aug. 4, 1757, bapt. Aug. 12, 1757, and
d. unmarried in England ; and by his second wife 48 Margaret, b. March 31,
1761, d. unmarried in England Dec. 17, 1819, bur. at Battersea; Anne, twin
1 Son of Anna Borland nee Vassall (30).
1 8 John V assail and his Descendants
with Charlotte, born April 14, 1762, d. unmarried in England Dec. 20, 1849 ;
50 Charlotte, twin with Anne, born April 14, 1762, mentioned in her father's
will, d. unmarried in England ; 51 Leonard, born March 28, 1764 ; 52 Nathaniel
born June 18, 1768, bapt. June 20, 1768. William Vassall's uncle William gave
him a remainder in fee in his estates. Will dated May 2, 1794, with codicil
dated Feb. 22, 1799, and proved Nov. 3, 1800.
(14) 25 ELIZABETH VASSALL, born in Jamaica July 16, 1717, m. John
Miller, of Milton, Mass., Aug. 21, 1738 ; he was, perhaps, bur. at Milton,
Aug. 17, 1765, aged 47 ; she d. a widow Feb. 11, 1772. They, in common
with most of her family, were Episcopalians, and were connected with Christ
Church, Quincy, by the rector of which, the Rev. Dr. Miller, all their children
were bapt. Children were : Lewis, b. July 31, 1739 ; Rebecca, born April 12,
1741, m. Giles Church of Bridgewater, Nov. 3, 1766; John, bapt. May 23
1742 ; Leonard, born Dec. 10, 1743, and m. Celia Wadsworth, of Killingly,
Conn. (?) ; Henry, born Jan. 25, 1745 ; Susanna, bapt. June 5, 1748 ; Elizabeth
and Mary, twins, born June 5 and 6, 1750 ; Penelope, bapt. between July 12
and Aug. 28, 1752.
(14) 27 HENRY VASSALL (Colonel), born in Jamaica Dec. 25, 1721,
m. Jan. 28, 1742, Penelope, dau. of Isaac Royall, of Antigua, who was born in
1672, and d. in Charlestown, Mass., June 7, 1739 ; having m. Elizabeth
Eliot, dau. of Asaph Eliot, of Boston, the widow of John Brown, of Antigua,
by whom she had a dau. Ann, who m. Robert Oliver, of that Island, and
later of Dorchester, Mass., and was the mother of Thomas and Elizabeth
Oliver. Elizabeth became the wife of 38 John Vassall and Thomas Oliver
became the husband of John's sister 39 Elizabeth. John and Elizabeth Vassall
were the nephew and niece of Henry Vassall, who d. in Cambridge, March 17,
1769, and was bur. in his vault beneath Christ Church in that city; she
d. in Boston, Nov. 19, 1800, aged 76. Harris in a footnote mentions : —
The tomb of Henry Vassall is the only one beneath the church. It is a small brick-
arched structure sunk below the level of the celler floor, the entrance to which is by a flight of
stone steps at the west end. Their position is marked by a flat stone erected, bearing the name
of " Henry Vassell ". The last interment took place Oct. 15, 1861, the one hundredth anniversary
of the dedication of the church, and was of the body of Darby, an old coloured servant whose
father, Anthony, had been Col. John Vassall's coachman. " Tony," as he was familiarly called,
lived to a great age. He was brought from Jamaica when a boy by some member of the family,
and remained in their service until the Revolution. Darby, one of several children, married
Lucy Holland April 4, 1802, and died Oct. 12, 1861, at the age of 92 years. At the time of his
burial the vault contained nine coffins. The upper one of the row of three on the north side
contained as indicated by the plate, the remains of Catharine Graves Russell, died Sep. 5, 1847.
The one below is somewhat decayed, contained the remains of a woman, supposed to be the wife
of Col. Vassall, died in 1800. The lower coffin held the remains of a man, doubtless Col. Vassall,
its appearance and position seeming to indicate its priority in the vault. On the south side were
the remains of four young children and two adults. Of the four, all were considerably broken
and decayed. Scarcely any remains were perceivable — merely a few detached bones. The
largest might have been that of a child two years old, and in the best preservation. The one
that seemed to be the oldest was marked with nail heads " E. R. BORN & DIED JAN. 27,
1770" (and we notice here that two small coffins found in the tomb of John Vassall were marked
in the same manner, "T. A. B. 1767," and "E V. "an infant daughter of John Vassall, who died
1768, all within a short interval, and the only ones of advanced age retaining any semblance to
inscriptions.) In this coffin were noticed a number of cherry stones, the kernels eaten out by
some mouse which had carried them thither, secure of a safe retreat. The upper of the two large
coffins on which the small ones rested contained the bones of a man over forty-five years of age.
The lower limbs were covered with hay, seeming to indicate transportation. No clue was
obtained to the person of the occupant. The remains in the lower coffin were supposed to be
those of Mrs Russell, the wife of Dr. Charles Russell, died in 1802.
Dec. 30, 1 74 1, he purchased of his brother John the estate of 7 acres,
with house, etc., on the Watertown Road in Cambridge, together with
30 acres of pasture land on the south bank of Charles River, for his bond
to the amount of ^9,050. In this deed he is described " Planter . . . late
of Jamaica, but now of Boston ". March 31, 1747, he bought of his brother
for ^700 old tenour, the Samuel Bull estate, adjoining his own and forming
together with that and one acre upon the westerly side given him by his
brother, the noble grounds afterwards owned by Samuel Batchelder, esq.,
on the corner of Brattle and Ash Streets. Dec. 11, 1748, he mortgaged to
James Pitts, merchant, of Boston, for ^779 12s. 6d., all the above estates.
Dec. 17, 1748, he signed an indenture with Isaac Royal, of Charlestown,
John Vassall and his Descendants 19
relating to the joint possession of certain negroes, cattle, etc., which they
had placed upon plantations in Popeshead, Antigua. How long he retained
this last-named property we have no means of knowing, though it would seem
probable that it remained in the family after his death. Oct. 21, 1765, he
sold to Ebenezer Bradish, glazier, for £506, the Brighton property of 30 acres,
later owned by Mr. Emery Willard. Sept. 30, 1767, he mortgaged his Cam-
bridge estate to Michael Trollet for £225 ; the deed was purchased by his
widow, Nov. 10, 1770, for £266 13s. \d. Feb. 20, 1769, he gave a second
mortgage on his estate to Dr. Russell, his son-in-law, for £964 js. /{d., the bond
bearing date Dec. io, 1764. The estate, we believe, eventually passed into
the hands of Mrs. Russell. He d. intestate, and his widow and Dr. Russell
were appointed administrators. She was possessed in her own right of
considerable property by the will of her mother, dated April 4, 1747. After
her husband's death she went with her daughter to Antigua, but returned
after the decease of Dr. Russell. By a deed of gift, signed July 15, 1782, she
received from her cousin, Joseph Royall, of London, a refugee, his real
estate of. 30 acres in Dorchester and Milton. Portions of this she sold at
various times to Ezra and Stephen Badlam and Desire Tolman. Administral
tion on her estate was granted Oct. 26, 1807, to her grandchildren.
Col. Vassall was one of the earliest benefactors of Christ Church, and his
name headed the petition to the London Society for Propagating the Gospel
in Foreign Parts, for aid in its erection. He was chosen on the building com-
mittee in Boston Sept. 29, 1759, and was until his death a faithful adherant
to its communion. A deed upon record in Middlesex, dated Nov. 20, 1761,
deserves notice in this connexion. It is a conveyance of his pew in the
" meeting house " at Cambridge, to the President and Overseers of the
College for the sum of £20, seeming to indicate that prior to the erection of
the church he attended the only place of worship in the neighbourhood, though
he ever preserved his alliance to the mother church. Children were : 53
Elizabeth and Penelope who died at the age of two years. A very highly
interesting account of Colonel Henry Vassall (1721-69), his wife Penelope
Royall, his house at Cambridge, and his slaves Tony and Darby, has been
written by Mr. Samuel Batchelder, of Boston, and published at Cambridge
in 191 7 for private distribution, and contains engravings of Henry Vassall and
his wife and their dau. Penelope, from portraits which passed to Elizabeth
Vassall, who m. Dr. Charles Russell, then to their child Rebecca, who in
1783, m. David Pearce, and from their dau. Elizabeth Vassall Pearce, who
m. Mr. Prentiss, they were transmitted to his granddaughter, Elizabeth Vassall
Prentice, who m. Oliver H. McCowen. In 1914 Mrs. McCowen being about
to remove from Baltimore to Burmah, offered them to the Cambridge
Historical Society, and they were purchased by the President, Richard H.
Dana, and are now hung in the Treasure room of the Harvard Library.
(14) 28 MARY VASSALL, born June 25, 1723, bapt. in Boston July 24,
1723, m. Jonathan Prescott, of Boston, March 10, 1747. It is probable that
they were not residents of Boston, though attendants at King's chapel in that
city. Children were : Jonathan, bapt. March 20, 1748 ; William, bapt.
June 17, 1750, bur. Nov. 4, 1751, aged 17 months ; William, bapt. Nov. 24,
1 75 1 , bur. Feb. 3, 1752, aged 2 months. Harris added the following footnote: —
The foregoing (referring to above) is all the information we have been able to gather con-
cerning this branch. There is a possibility that by early removing from Boston they escaped,
if they indeed were living at the time, the fate of so many of their family at the period of the
Revolution, and their descendants may even now be in our midst.
(14) 29 SUSANNA VASSALL, born Nov. 20, 1725, m. Captain George
Ruggles of Jamaica, the banns having been published in Boston Dec. 24,
1742. Soon after his marriage he purchased an estate in Cambridge, which he
occupied until June 17, 1772, when Gilbert Harrison and John Bernard, of
London conveyed the property to John Vassall. Thomas Oliver, and John
Foxcroft, of Cambridge, for £1,350, it having been attached in Boston Aug.,
1 77 1. At that time it consisted of 45 acres, with house thereon, bounded
west on Thatcher, north on road to Fresh Pond, east on Joseph Lee, south
20 John Vassall and his Descendants
on road to Watertown, and south-west on a private road to Thatcher's estate ;
7 acres of meadow bounded west on " a way to Fresh Pond ", north-west on
" Fresh Pond brook ", north and north-west on Abraham Watson, and south
on William Brattle ; 3 acres of Saltmarsh, bounded south-east on Charles
River, south-west on Thomas Oliver, north-west on Thatcher and the highway,
and north-east on Seth Hastings ; and 1 J acres of orchard bounded north-
east on a private way, east on Watertown Road, and south and west on Oliver.
It was reconveyed to him by the purchasers, Sept. 10, 1774, for ^100, and
Oct. 31 he sold it to Thomas Fayerweather for ^2,000. The mansion and
adjoining grounds were purchased afterwards by the late William Wells,
and is still owned and occupied by his family. At the time of the Revolution,
Ruggles disappeared, and is supposed to have followed the army to Halifax.
Children were : George, bur. Oct. 27, 1747, aged 17 months ; Susanna, bapt.
an infant, July 26, 1747, m. Ezekiel Lewis, merchant of Boston, and resident
with his father-in-law at Cambridge ; he died in or before 1779.
(14) 30 ANNA VASSALL, born April 29, 1735, was twice m. ; first to John,
son of Francis and Jane Borland, of Boston, Feb. 20, 1749-50, by whom she
had twelve children ; he died June 5, 1775, aged 46, and was bur. June 7,
in the family tomb in the Granary grounds, Boston, and secondly to William
Knight, of Portsmouth, N.H., April 27, 1784. She died a widow at Boston,
June 20, 1823, and was bur. June 21 in the Borland tomb in the Granary
grounds. The property inherited from her father was invested in real estate
in Boston. Her husband, John Borland, owned and occupied the beautiful
mansion-house erected in Cambridge by the Rev. East Apthorp, D.D., the
first rector of Christ Church, and which passed into the hands of his son-in-
law, Jonathan Simpson. It was afterwards occupied by Dr. S. Plympton and
Mrs. E. B. Manning, and with the exception of a third storey subsequently
added, retains much of its original appearance. His death was caused by
injuries received by a mis-step in descending stairs, after his removal to Boston.
Children were : Phoebe, born Oct. 27, 1751, m. George Spooner, of Boston,
and had issue : John Lindall, born Aug. 18, 1753, H.C. 1772, espoused the
royal cause in the Revolution, entered the army and died in England, Nov. 16,
1825, bearing the rank of Lieut. -Col. ; Francis, born April 11, 1756, H.C.
1774, m. Hannah, dau. of Col. Jerathmel Bowers, of Swansey, in 1783,
practised as physician at Portsmouth, N.H., a few years, removed to Somerset,
Mass., and d. 1826, leaving male issue ; Jane, born Oct. 26, 1757, m. Jonathan
Simpson, and had issue ; Leonard Vassall, born July 1, 1759, m. Sarah,
dau. of Dr. James Lloyd Feb. 8, 1785, d. on board ship John Jay, from
Batavia, June 1801, and had issue — his widow d. at Boston, March 27, 1736,
aged 73 ; James, born May 26, 1761, entered H.C. but did not graduate,
and d. unmarried soon after 1783 ; William, bapt. March 23, 1764, d. young ;
Samuel, born Dec. 22, 1765, H.C, 1786, m. at Demarara, d. at Hudson, N.Y.,
and had issue : Anna, d. young ; Elizabeth Poole, d. young; Thomas Alley me,
born March 1, 1767, d. Sept. 29, 1767, and was buried in the Vassall tomb
at Cambridge ; Sarah, d. young. Anna (Vassall) Borland's son Leonard
Vassall Borland, b. July 1, 1735, m. Feb. 8, 1785, Sarah Lloyd, had a dau.,
Augusta Elizabeth, on Nov. 12, 1795, m. July 14, 1819, William Parkinson
Green, and d. at Norwich, Conn., June 21, 1861, leaving a dau., Anna Lloyd
Greene, born Jan. 5, 1829, m. May 8, 1851, John Jeffries, and had a son,
William Augustus Jeffries, who was born Feb. 13, 1856, and numerous other
descendants alive in 1920.
(6) 15 FLORENTIUS VASSALL, m. Anne Herring, and by her had issue
54 Florentius, 55 Bath sua, and §ft Anna Maria. Anne Herring was the dau.
of Julines and Anne Herring, Julines Herring was Member of Assembly for
the parish of St. Elizabeth, Jam., in 1686, and was the partner of Col. Rich-
Scott, in Wye Esse (Y.S.) sugar estate or Scott's Plantation in St. Elizabeth,
he was Member of Assembly for St. Elizabeth in 1677-79-88, and on Herring's
death Scott married his widow. Julines Herring devised a moiety of his
moiety of Y.S. to his widow, Anne Herring, for life, and the other moiety to
his son, Nathaniel, who was Member of the Assembly for St. Elizabeth in
John V assail and his Descendants 21
171 1, in tail with remainder over in tail to his three daughters, Bathsua, the
wife of Peter Beckford, jun., the Speaker of Assembly, Anne, the wife of
Florientius Vassall, and after his death the wife of Richard Mill, and Julines,
the wife of Francis Moore. Florentius Vassall by his will, which was dated
Nov. 18, 1710, and proved in Jamaica Feb. 12, 1711, made bequests to his
brothers, William, Samuel, and Leonard ; he also gave to his brother-in-law,
Nathaniel Herring, and his cousin, William Williams, a gold ring each, and to
his god-son, John Williams, son of Rowland Williams ; he appointed his
brother-in-law, Peter Beckford, Speaker of the House of Assembly in Jamaica,
1707-13 and again in 1716, son of the Rt. Hon. Col. Peter Beckford, and
his wife, the executor and executrix of his will and the guardians of his
children, and specifically directed that his daughter, Anna Maria (56) was to
be maintained " and generously educated at the joint and equal charge of
my son Florentius and my wife until she arrives at the age of eighteen years, or
day of marriage ' ' . Peter and Bathsua Beckford were the parents of Elizabeth,
Countess of Effingham and William Beckford, of Fonthill, and Lord Mayor and
M.P. of the city of London in 1770, Florentius Vassall died in 1710-11, and on
his death his widow m. the Hon. Richard Mill, then Chief Justice of Jamaica
and Receiver-General.
(15) 54 FLORENTIUS VASSALL was born in Jamaica in 1709, and m.
Sept. 16, 1729, Mary, dau. of Col. John Foster (who was Member of Assembly
for St. Elizabeth 1722-31, and died in 1731), who was born in 171 3. He was
a resident of Jamaica for some time, as he was deputed by Richard Mill, his
stepfather, on May 25, 1730, to act as Receiver-General of Jamaica. On the
death of his first wife in London he m. Elizabeth, who died Nov. 21, i77(? 5),
and was bur. at St. Marylebone, London.1 He died in 1776, and was also
bur. at St. Marylebone, London. Though never a resident in New England,
he was the owner of a large tract of land on the banks of Kennebeg Me. His
will, recorded in Canterbury Court, in England, is dated Sept. 20, 1777 ;
he styles himself therein as ''late of Jamaica, now of Wimpole Street, parish
of St. Marylebone, co. Middlesex, Great Britain ". His remains he ordered
to be placed in the vault he had lately caused to be made in the churchyard
in that parish, wherein his late wife had been bur. His several plantations
in the parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica, known as Friendship, Greenwich,
and Sweet River, and also his New England lands he left in trust to the use of
his son, Richard, devising them in tail to his issue ; life annuities were to be
paid his dau. Elizabeth, the widow of the Hon. Maj.-Gen. John Barrington,
to Hester Deere, his wife's sister, to his dau., Anna Maria Russell, and
her husband, William Henry Russell, and Phoenix Felton, a youth, then
on the foundation of Westminster School. His lands in St. Elizabeth, Jam.,
he gave to his brother-in-law, John Foster Barham, and the sons of his late
brothers-in-law, William and Samuel Foster. In default of issue a portion of
his property was entailed upon his nephew, Rose Herring May, and issue, and,
in default thereof to the use of the minister and wardens of the parish of
Westmoreland, Jam., for the establishment of a charity school upon his
estates there. And finally he ordered that every person who should come into
possession of his estates should take the surname Vassall. Will dated Sept. 20,
1777, and administration granted Sept. 17, 1778. (379 Hay) The bulk of his
property eventually passed into the hands of his granddaughter, Elizabeth
Vassall (Holland), except the Maine lands, which after a protracted lawsuit
finally decided in 1851, were lost to the heirs and reverted to the settlers.
Children were : Florentius and 57 Richard (twins) born in Jamaica April 18,
1732 ; Florentius d. and was bur. the 29 May following ; 58 Elizabeth, and
59 Anna Maria. He erected the monument to the memory of his great
grand-uncle, Samuel Vassall, in King's Chapel Boston.2
1 A search in the Church Records will disclose the surname of his second wife ? Deere.
2 At the end of the second panel it is stated :
"This Monument was erected hy his great grand son
Florentius Vassall, Esq.,
of the Island of Jamaica, now residing in ENGLAND
May, 1766,"
22 John Vassall and his Descendants
(15) 55 BATHSUA VASSALL m. the Rev. William May (second wife),
and d. and was bur. on July 22, 1748, in the Spanish Town church. She had
six sons and two daughters by her husband, of whom only one son, Rose
Herring May, survived ; he was born Feb. 16, 1736-7, and was a member of
Council and Custos of the parishes of Clarendon and Vere; he d. Aug. 1, 1791,
and was bur. in Spanish Town. William May's first wife was Smart, the
widow of Thomas Peters, who was member of Council for Clarendon and dau.
of Edward Pennant, Custos of Clarendon and Vere, who d. on June 11, 1736.
Smart May was killed by the falling of a house in the twenty-third year of
her age, in the great storm of Aug. 28, 1722.
(15) 58 ANNA MARIA VASSALL. No record can be found of this
daughter of Florentius Vassall other than the reference to her in her father's
will, and by it she was bequeathed ^500.
(54) 57 RICHARD VASSALL, born April 13, 1732, d. in Golden Square,
London, Feb. 28, 1795, his widow survived him and m. Sir Gilbert Affleck,
Bart., of Dulham Hall, Suffolk, at St. George's, Hanover Square, London,
July 18, 1796, and d. in 1835. Richard Vassall administered on his father's
estate Sept. 14, 1778. His will with a codicil was dated June 8 and 30, 1793,
and proved March 19, 1795. He had m. Mary, dau. of Thomas Clark, of
New York ; marriage licence dated New York, March 29, 1770 ; she was the
executrix of her husband and d. Feb. 1835, at South Street, Park Lane,
London, aged 86 years. She had issue by Richard Vassall, one dau. 60
Elizabeth.
(54) 58 ELIZABETH VASSALL, m. Maj.-Gen. the Hon. John Shute
Barrington, third son of John, Viscount Barrington, and had issue : William,
Richard, and George ; the latter was born July 16, 1761, and was the Rt. Hon.
and Rev. George Barrington fifth Viscount Barrington of Newcastle, co.
Dublin, M.A., Prebendary of Ardeglass, co. Down, and Baron Barrington of
Newcastle, co. Dublin, Prebendary of Durham, and Rector of Sedgefield in
that bishopric. He m. Caroline, second dau. of the second Earl of Albemarle,
and by her had issue. He died at Rome March 5, 1829, aged 68.
(54) 59 ANNA MARIA VASSALL, bapt. at St. George the Martyr,
London, Oct. 18, 1755 ; m. William Henry Russell. The only mention of her
or her husband is found in her father's will.
(23) 37 RUTH VASSALL, born at Cambridge, Mass., July 14, 1737,
m. Edward Davis May 20, 1756, d. at Boston Jan. 28, 1774, and was bur.
in William Vassall's tomb under King's Chapel, but her remains were after-
wards removed to the Davis tomb in the chapel grounds ; he d. April 16,
181 1, and was bur. April 20. Harris gives the following in a footnote : —
Edward Davis was the third son of Dr. William Davis (who was the only son of Major
Benjamin Davis) by his wife Hannah, the eldest daughter of Col. Edward Winslow, all of
Boston. He was born Aug. 21, 1730, married, secondly, Mahitabel Prentiss, by whom he had six
children ; the eldest, Spencer, was born Dec. 18, 1775, the youngest daughter, Caroline Augusta,
married Mr. Titus Wells, of Boston, who afterwards married Henrietta, daughter of Jonathan
Simpson and grand daughter of 30 Anna Vassall.
After her father's death she was boarded with one Mrs. Sarah Gerrish, of
Cambridge, until 1752, an item in the account of her guardian, Hon. Spencer
Phips, is the amount of £g paid Dec. 8, 1751, to Sarah Gerrish, jun., " for
instructing the said Ruth to play the spinnet." By a deed of gift signed
Oct. 29, 1765, her brother John conveyed to her through Thomas Oliver
as her trustee a brick house on King Street (State Street), purchased of
Joshua Winslow and others, Nov. 27, 1759. It was bounded north 26 feet
on King's Street, east 120 feet on Lemuel Gowan, south 27 feet on an alley
leading into Leverett's Lane (Congress Street), west 120 feet on Francis
but is entirely wrong, as appears from the foregoing authentic records of Samuel Vassall and
his son John; and one is inclined to believe that the statement is not an error, but a wilful
misstatement by Florentius Vassall to mislead the readers into the belief that he was the
descendant of one who had also suffered at the hands of the Government of the day ; it must be
borne in mind that the New England Colonies were then almost in revolt against the Mother
Country. It will be observed that there are none of the usual eulogistic terms of the virtues,
etc., of the deceased, even the dates of his birth, marriage, and death are lost sight of in the
mercenary atmosphere.
John V assail and his Descendants 23
Holmes. At her death the property was to revert to her husband and then
to their joint heirs. At his death the court adjudged the property to John,
the only surviving son, by whom it was conveyed to the Tremont Bank
Corporation. The estate of Edward Davis, at his death, was appraised at
$15,777*25. Children were: Edward, born Feb. 26/1757, d. at Boston,
Oct. 1, 1757; Elizabeth, born Oct. 11, 1758, d. unmarried in Augusta, Me.,
1 81 7-1 8; she was the " Miss Davis" mentioned in Curwen's letters as being
in England with Col. John Vassall ; Hannah, born Dec. 15, 1759, d. unmarried
at Boston, May 11, 1841 ; Ruth, born Jan. 24, 1761, d. Nov. 15, 1772 ; a dau.
unbaptized and d. four hours after birth, April 26, 1762; Edward, born
July 26, 1763, d. March 25, 1764 ; Lucy, born Oct. 9, 1765, m. Oct. 11, 1792,
William Hayden, d. at Lincoln April 17, 1830; of her eight children three were
living in 1862, Mr. William Hayden, of Boston, Miss Charlotte F. Hayden,
and Frederic A. Hayden ; Charlotte, born Nov. 6, 1766, m. Oct. 29, 1793,
Joseph Fossick, of Boston, d. at Boston, May 9, 1799 ; issue, one son, Joseph,
d. abroad unmarried ; Frances, born Nov. 6, 1766, m. May 21, 1793, Samuel
Prince, of Boston, d. Dec. 22, 1799, he d. Jan. 21, 1820, leaving male issue ;
John, born June 14, 1768, he contested several cases in the State of Maine
concerning the lands of Florentius Vassall — 54 — there, upon the ground of
heirship thereto, but was defeated in all, and d. at Washington city, D.C.,
leaving male issue, having been m. in Augusta, Me., to Ann Page ; Edward,
born June 29, 1769, d. unmarried of yellow fever at Boston, Sept. 20, 1798 ;
William, born July 21, 1770, d. Sept. 13, 1771 ; a son stillborn Feb. 11, 1773.
(23) 38 JOHN VASSALL, born at Cambridge, Mass., June 12, 1738, H.C.
1757, m. Elizabeth, sister of Lieut. -Gov. Thomas Oliver, Jan. 12, 1761,
he d. Sept. 24, 1797, at Clifton, England ; she d. at Clifton, in her 63rd year,
March 31, 1807, and was bur. in St. Paul's, Bristol, April 7, 1807, M.I. At
his father's death Hon. Spencer Phips was appointed guardian. In
his account several curious items occur, viz. " To John Morse for a
wigg and shaving said Miner's head two quarters, £11 "; "To John
Warland for a perriwigg, ^19." He boarded with his guardian until May 5,
1752, " when he went to live in Boston ', but seems to have been with him
again from Aug. 8, 1753, to July 22, 1754. After his graduation at Harvard's,
he is supposed to have lived at Cambridge until July 28, 1759, when
he purchased of Edward Marritt, taylor, for ^200, 1 J acres bounded east on
his own estate, south on Watertown road, west on Jonathan Hastings,
and north on John Hunt ; also 6 acres bounded south on the same road,
west on the " town way ", north and east on Jacob Hill, and east on Hastings ;
also 1 acre opposite, bounded south on Charles River, west on his own marsh,
north and east on Henry Vassall. On the estate originally inherited from his
father and by these purchases greatly enlarged, he erected the splendid
mansion, which he occupied until driven from it by the *rage of the time.
Nov. 27, 1759, he purchased from Joshua, John, and Isaac Winslow, Hannah
Davis, Richard Clarke, and wife, Elizabeth, for ^100 an estate on King's
Street, Boston, with the brick house thereon, which in 1765 he gave to his
sister, Ruth. April 11, 1760, he purchased of Benjamin Faneil, jun., for
j£*»333 65. Sd. an estate in Boston with brick house and barn, bounded west
39 ft. 6 in. on Marlborough (Wastington) Street, east 66 feet on Bishop's
Lane (Hawley Street), north 295 feet on Brightman, south on Walker. This
estate he sold March 30, 1763, to John Spooner for ^1,200. Oct. 2, 1762, he
sold in company with Thomas and (39) Elizabeth and Edward and (37) Ruth
Davis to Richard Lechmere of Cambridge for ^726 13s. /\d., 4 acres on
Cambridge " neck ", bounded south-east on the " great cove " with " a large
house thereon, being the share of the estate of Lieut. -Gov. Phips, set off to
their mother, Elizabeth Vassall". Nov. 30, 1763, he purchased of Thomas
Oliver for ^1,000 his undivided share in his father's estate, consisting mainly
of lands in the western part of the State. Dec. 20, 1768, he purchased of
John Hunt and his wife, Ruth, of Water-town, for ^26 135. 4^., a small piece
of land in Cambridge (being part of a lot called "the pickle") bounded
north-west on Jonathan Wyeth, and adjoining his own estate. April 4, 1771,
24 John V assail and his Descendants
he purchased of Ezekiel Lewis, of Cambridge, for £350, 3J acres with barn in
DDrchester, bounded south and west on a high road, north on Ebenezer and
Lemuel Clap, east on Zebediah Williams ; also a half acre lot there, bounded
east on Jeffries, and north, west, and south on high roads. Sept. 19, 1771,
he bought of Charles Ward Apthorp, of New York, for ^400, 47 acres on Fresh
Pond, in Watertown. Jan. 1 , 1 772, he purchased of Abraham Frost, yeoman of
Charlestown, for £133 65. Sd., 12 acres of woodland in Cambridge, at a place
called " the rocks ", bounded south-west on Rev. Nathaniel Appleton, north-
east on Winship and Withington, north-west on Carter, south-east on Cooper,
Swan, Hill, and Prentice. March 10, 1772, he purchased of Margaret
Fessenden, " seamstriss," of Cambridge, for £y 45., a triangular lot bounded
48 feet south-west on highways, 70 feet north-east on James Munroe, 50 feet
north-west on Abraham Hasey, with " well privilege ". April 15, 1772, he
purchased of Jonathan Hill three-fourths of an acre, with house and barn there-
on, bounded south and west on his own land, north on Prentice, east on town
road leading to brick-kilns. Oct. 13, 1772, he bought of widow Mary Ann
Jones for £1,800 the estate in Boston, with mansion-house, barns, and stables
attached, bounded east 140 feet on Tremont Street, 321 feet south on Jeffries,
120 feet west on Allen, William Vassall, and Sherburne, and 378 feet north
on Vassall and land of the " old brick church ". Here he lived during the
winter months, until forced to abandon the country. The estate was con-
fiscated by the government, and sold to Isaiah Sloane, merchant, of Boston,
for .£2,400, Dec. 15, 1783. April 6, 1774, he purchased of Jonathan Hastings,
for £266 135. \d., about 4 acres, bounded south-west on Watertown Road,
and by his own land on other sides. May 9, 1774, he purchased of Jonathan
Wyeth, other lands adjoining his own homesteads. May 7, 1774, he purchased
of Thomas Goddard, of Cambridge, blacksmith, for ^155 35. ioi., 9 acres in
the " West field ", bounded north-east on the " proprietor's way ", north-
west on Jonathan Hill, south-west on Rev. Thomas Prentice, south-east on
Sewell and Wyeth. It was in the summer of this year that he was compelled
to remove with his family to Boston for protection, and in that city he con-
tinued to dwell upon the estate adjoining that of his uncle. William Vassall,
on Pemberton Hill, until 1776, when he accompanied the British Army to
Halifax, and from thence sailed for England. He was exiled by the Act of
1 778. Though his family was large, and the losses he had suffered in America
were considerable, his high spirit would not allow him to accept of any
remuneration for his sacrifices, to which his adherence to Great Britain had
compelled him to submit ; and he contented himself with receiving back
those advances which he had actually made for the services of the Govern-
ment. On being pressed by Lord George Germain, then his Majesty's
Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, to bring forward his claims,
he replied, " It shall never be said that I emigrated from my own country to
become a charge on this." Sabine says of him that arriving in London " he
was passenger in one of the six vessels that arrived in London from Halifax
prior to June 10 laden with loyalists and their families ". In July of that year
he designed to take a house " at the Court end of the Metropolis and enjoy
the comforts of a splendid fortune ". In 1780 he seems to have lived at
Bristol ; other refugees from Massachusetts were at Birmingham, but he
disliked the place, and said it was a " dirty, ill-built hole ". Later he
resided alternately at Chatley Lodge, in the county of Wilts and the city
of Bath. He died at Clifton almost instantaneously after eating a hearty
dinner, Sept. 14, 1797 (M.I. St. Paul's, Bristol). An obituary published
in the Gentleman' s Maqizine said of him : " He had a very considerable
fortune in America, where he lived in princely style. Some time after the
disturbances took place, having taken a very active part and spared no
expense to support the royal cause, he left his possessions there to the
ravagers, and having fortunately very large possessions in Jamaica, he came
with his family to England. He carried his loyalty so far as not to use the
family motto, Scepe pro rege, semper pro republican By an Act of the General
Court of 1780 his real estate in Dorchester, in two pieces, was sold by the
John Vassall and his Descendants 25
Government to John Williams, of Boston, for ^325, on June 12, 1781. The
sale of most of his remaining property followed in quick succession. June 28
his splendid estate in Cambridge of 47 acres, bounded south-west on Water-
town Road, east on Deacon Aaron Hill, and Wyeth, north-east on Prentice
and Wyeth and on the highway, north on Prentice, and west on " the town
way ", together with 40 acres on the opposite side of the Watertown Road,
bounded west on Sewell and Joseph Lee, south on Lee and the Charles River,
east on heirs of Henry Vassall, and also the " westfield " lot, bought in 1774,
together with 20 acres on " Fresh pond ", were sold by the Commonwealth
to Nathaniel Tracey, of Newburyport, for the sum of ^4,264. A portion of
this property, including the mansion house (occupied by Washington as his
headquarters during the Revolution), and lands immediately adjoining,
became soon after the property of Andrew Craigie, and was the residence of
Henry W. Longfellow, remained in appearance very much as when deserted
by its original occupant. June 4, 1782, 20 acres on Fresh pond were sold to
John Richardson for ^165. A small portion of his Boston property escaped
the notice of the authorities, and was conveyed by him to Edward Brinley,
of Boston, through his brother-in-law, Edward Davis, April 8, 1794. It
consisted of land and wharf situated " near the draw bridge ", bounded north-
west on an alley to " Wentworth's wharf ", and wharf near the above,
bounded south-west on " Mill creek ", and a smaller piece of about 13 feet
square, all of which was sold for ^18. Children were : 61 John, born May 7,
1762 ; 62 Spencer Thomas, born April 7, 1764 ; 63 Thomas Oliver, born
April 12, 1766; Elizabeth, bapt. at Cambridge, Mass., July 5, 1767, d.
Jan. 5, 1768, bur. in the family vault in Christ Church, Cambridge, Mass. ;
64 Robert Oliver, born May 28, 1769 ; 65 Elizabeth, born May 5, 1771 ; 66
Leonard, born 1773, d. at Boston, Nov. 7, 1775 ; 67 Mary, born in London,
March 27, 1777. His will dated March 5, 1794, with codicil dated 29, 1797,
proved Jan. 5, 1798 (P.P.C., 67 Walpole).
(23) 39 ELIZABETH VASSALL, born at Cambridge, Mass., Sept. 12,
1739, m. Thomas Oliver, of Cambridge, June 11, 1760, and d. in England
in 1807.
He was the son of Col. Robert Oliver, of Dorchester, Mass., and of Antigua, was born about
1733, jmarried secondly in 1781 Harriet only child and heiress of Byam, Freeman of Antigua.
She died July 16, 1808, at Bristol, Eng.
He d. Nov. 29, 1815, aged 82. Lieut. -Gov. Phips was appointed Elizabeth
Vassall's guardian Sept. 16, 1747, and Edward Davis, Sept. 11, 1759. Thomas
Oliver was the last royal lieutenant governor of the Council appointed in 1774.
Sept. 2 of the same year he was compelled by a mob of 4,000 persons to
resign his office, and he almost immediately vacated his beautiful estate in
Cambridge (afterwards occupied by Gov. Gerry, and afterwards by the
Rev. Charles Lowell, D.D.) and removed to Boston. Here he resided until
1776, when at the evacuation he accompanied the Royal Army to Halifax,
and from there to England. He was exiled by the Act of 1778, and his estate
confiscated. The farm-house in connexion with his Cambridge mansion is
standing distant a few hundred rods from the present estate in a south-
east direction upon the slope of a hill overlooking the Charles River. Lieut. -
Gov. Oliver was a quiet reserved man, but little known in public life, though
ever distinguished for his amiable and gentlemanly graces. Before retiring
to Bristol he was an active and very successful sugar planter in Antigua,
where he owned several estates. He d. Nov. 29, bur. at St.. Paul's, Bristol,
England, Dec. 5, 1815, M.I. Will proved Jan. 29, 1816 (P.P.C., 39 Wynne).
The following baptisms of children are found in the records of Christ Church,
Cambridge, Mass. : Anna, bapt. March 4, 1764 ; Elizabeth, bapt. Aug. 17,
1766 ; Penelope, bapt. Oct. 2, 1768.
(23) 40 LUCY VASSALL, born at Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 15, 1747, bapt.
Dec. 27, 1747, m. John Lavicount of Antigua, June 16, 1768. They dis-
appeared from the country at the time of the revolution. She was the only
individual of the name of Vassall who was bapt. in New England by other
than a minister of the Established Church. Her mother was, we believe,
26 John Vassall and his Descendants
a dissenter, and this may account for the following entry found in the Books
of the First Parish (Congregational) of Cambridge : Bapt. by the Rev. N.
Appleton. " Dec. 28, 1747, Lucy, of Mrs. Lucy Vassall, widow of ye late
Col. John Vassall, ye child abed twelve days old at ye father's death." She
returned, however, to the faith of her forefathers; the rector of Portsmouth
(N.H.) Church, Rev. Arthur Browne performed her marriage ceremony.
The bapt. of one child is recorded in the records of Cambridge Christ Church :
John, bapt. June 11, 1769. Her husband was living in 1797. She was buried
at St. Phillips', Antigua, Aug. 21, 1797. Will dated June 12, 1797. Proved
in Antigua, Sept. 28, 1797.
(38) 61 JOHN VASSALL, born at Cambridge, Mass., May 7, 1762, bapt.
May 23, 1762, m. Elizabeth, youngest dau. of James Athill, of Antigua,
June 13, 1799, d. Oct. 7, 1800, bur. at Lyndhurst, England. Issue one
child, 61a John, who d. sine prole March 23, 1827, bur. at Lyndhurst, England.
(38) 62 SPENCER THOMAS VASSALL, born at Cambridge, Mass.,
April 7, bapt. May 27, 1764, m. June 30, 1795, Catherine Brandith Back-
house, dau. of David Evans, D.D., Rector of West Tilbury, co. Essex.
England, d. on the morning of Feb. 7, 1807, of wounds received on Feb. 3
at the taking of Monte Video, Uruguay ; his wife survived and m. secondly
on July 11, 1816, Thomas Chetman Strode, of Somerset, and d. July 22,
1842. Spencer Thomas Vassall was early destined for the profession of
arms, and after receiving a suitable education, first at a foreign academy
and then at a military establishment in England, he commenced his career
as an Ensign in the 59th Regiment (now the 2nd Battalion of the Lancashire
(East) Regt.) of Foot at the early age of 12 years. He soon after embarked
for Gibraltar, where he served during the memorable siege laid to that fortress
from June 21, 1779, to Feb. 2, 1783. He was then a lieutenant in the 59th.
On his return from Gibraltar he eagerly grasped every occasion of increasing
by active service the scientific and practical knowledge which he had already
acquired in the military art ; he was never idle, and the greater part of his
time was spent abroad, either with his regiment or on the staff ; thus he
filled at various times the situations of adjutant, aide-de-camp, brigade-
major, deputy quartermaster-general, deputy adjutant-general, and once
that of adjutant-general. But though he discharged those duties with zeal
and ability, and received the thanks of all the commanding officers to whom
he was attached, he was unfortunate in not obtaining promotion com-
mensurate to his merit or services, and in the progress of regimental rank
he found himself under the necessity of purchasing every step from his first
commission as ensign to that of lieutenant-colonel, which latter he did not
procure until the year 1800. Yet it was his fate to serve in almost every
part of the globe, and, besides the siege of Gibraltar and in the American
contest, to accompany every expedition which sailed from England, except
that of Egypt ; he was twice with the army in Flanders, once in the East
Indies, several times on the coast of France, and once in Spain. He was
the first man that landed on the isle de Dieu and planted the British flag
there. He formed part of both expeditions to Holland, in the last of which
he was ordered by the Duke of York to attend Gen. Don to the enemy's
camp with a flag of truce. On that occasion, when Brun, the French Com-
mander-in-Chief, in frantic rage, pretended to suspect the motive of the
mission, declared to Gen. Don that he should treat him as a spy, he turned
to Major Vassall and said with a contemptuous smile : " Pour vous, Monsieur ?
je vous plains." Major Vassall answered : " Sir, I disdain your pity and
am ready to share the fate of my general." He returned to England and
shortly after purchased the commission of lieutenant-colonel in the 38th
Regiment (now the 1st Battalion of the Staffordshire (South) Regt.) and
embarked almost immediately for Ireland, and in the four and a half years
that that regiment was quartered there his merits were justly appreciated
by persons of the highest rank. From Ireland he embarked for the Cape
of Good Hope and assisted in the capture of that colony, and there his wife
joined him with their family. At his earnest request he embarked with the
John Vassall and his Descendants 27
regiment in the second detachment for the coast of Spanish America, and
captured the town of Moldonado, and it was at the capture of Monte Video
that he was killed. The following honourable augmentation of Arms was
granted in 1808 to Colonel Vassall's widow and descendants : —
On a fess or the breached bastion of a fortress and above the words " Monte Video" on a
canton arg. the number "38th" within a branch of cypress, and another of laurel, the stems
united in saltire. Second Crest. — On a wreath of the colours upon a mount vert a breached
fortress, thereon hoisted a flag gules with the inscription " Monte Video " in letters of gold.
Second motto : " Every bullet has its billet."
His remains were interred in the grand church at Monte Video with all
military honours, but afterwards exhumed and taken to England, where they
were deposited in the family vault in the church of St. Paul's, Bristol, where
his wife consecrated to his memory a beautiful piece of sculpture, designed
by Flaxman and executed by Rossi, with an epitaph inscribed on the tablet.
The Duke of York took an early opportunity after the decease of Col Vassall
to express the high sense he entertained of his meritorious services, and besides
the ordinary pension given to the widow of a lieutenant-colonel, the value
of a major's commission, for the use of his widow, and recommended her
peculiar case to the attention of His Majesty's ministers and obtained for
her, from his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, an additional pension.
Children were : 68 Spencer Lambert Hunter ; Frances Vassall, born 1803,
d. July 9, 1803 ; 69 Rawdon John Popham ; 70 Honor a Mary Georgiana ;
71 Catherine Alicia Beresford. Will dated July 5, 1805; proved July 4,
1807 (P.P.C., 629 Lushington) .
(38) 63 THOMAS OLIVER VASSALL, born at Cambridge, Mass., April 12,
1766, d. unmarried at Wrexham, England (Denbigh), Oct. 8, 1807. Will
dated Oct. 2, 1807, proved April 7, 1808 (P.P.C., 349 Ely).
(38) 64 ROBERT OLIVER VASSALL was born at Cambridge Mass.,
May 28, 1769, m. March 26, 1794, Christian Barrett Tomlinson, of Jamaica,
and d. at Abingdon, in the parish of Hanover, Jamaica, March 23, 1827. He
was a member of the Legislative Council, Custos of Hanover, etc. Children ;
72 Elizabeth Oliver ; 73 John, born in England ; and 74 Alary, born in
Jamaica. His wife, Christian Barrett Tomlinson, was the dau. of John
Tomlinson, and Christian, his wife, the dau. of Jacob Johnson, and his first
wife, Christian Barrett, the dau. of Samuel Barrett and Elizabeth, his wife,
the dau. of Henry and Mary Wisdom, of St. James's, Jamaica. Samuel
Barrett was born Sept. 24, 1689, d. March 7, 1760, m. July 31, 1721, his wife
was born May 6, 1707, and d. Nov. 17, 1757, their sixth child, Christian, was
born Jan. 6, 1730, and m. June 30, 1746, Jacob Johnson, and d. June 16,
1759, and their dau., Christian Johnson, m. John Tomlinson, and they were
the parents of Christian Barrett Tomlinson, the wife of Robert Oliver Vassall.
Samuel Barrett was the son of Samuel Barrett, of Withy Wood, afterwards
Vere (now Clarendon), and Margery, dau. of Edward Green, an officer of
the Army of Occupation, and were m. in 1686, he was the son of Hearcey
Barrett, who was an officer of the Army of Occupation in 1655, and was
granted land at Mile Gull}7, now in Manchester, and also in Vere, now part
of the parish of Clarendon, and from whom also are descended the Moulton-
Barretts, of St. Ann, Jamaica, and Elizabeth Barrett, the poetess, who m.
Robert Browning. Jacob Johnson was the only surviving son of
Thomas Johnson, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, who m. Rachael
Ricketts, whose brother, William Henry Ricketts, m. April 19, 1757,
Mary Jervis, sister of the Admiral who was created Earl St. Vincent.
Rachael Ricketts was the dau. of William Ricards, a captain in the army
of conquest of Jamaica, and subsequently commanded at Bluefields
Fort in that island, his Commission having been made out in the name of
Ricketts he and his descendants retained that designation. He married
circa 1672 Mary, dau. of Robert Goodwin, a younger son of Sir Francis
Goodwin, of Bucks, England, by his wife Elizabeth Grey, only dau. of Arthur,
14th Lord Grey de Wilton by his wife, Dorothy Touche. Mary Ricketts
d. April 17, 1750, aged 96 years. Jacob Johnson m. secondly Susanna Mary
28 John V assail and his Descendants
Poole Lawrence, the dau. of John Lawrence and Mary, the dau. of Samuel
and Sabina Poole and Relict of Thomas Woollery. He was the great-grand-
son of Henry Lawrence, the president of Oliver Cromwell's Council, and his
wife, Amy Peyton.
(38) 65 ELIZABETH VASSALL, born May 5, 1771, m. March 6, 1794,
at Bath, England, John Gustavus Lemaistre, only son of the Hon. C. T.
Lemaistre, and d. at Cheltenham, England, July 27, 1856, sine prole.
(38) 67 MARY VASSALL, born in London, March 26, 1777, m. June 16,
1800, at Bath, England, John Gittins, Archer of Barbadoes, and d. at Clifton,
England, Dec. 27, 1806. Her only child, John V assail, d. at Clifton,
Oct. 26, 1806.
(24) 41 SARAH VASSALL, born in Boston, June 17, 1739, bapt. Nov. 1,
1743, m. Joseph Syme, on London and Bristol, England, Dec. 29, 1763,
d. a widow in 1827. They resided for some time in Boston, but removed to
London, where he was for many years settled as a merchant. The bapt.
of one child is recorded in the Records of Trinity Church, Boston : Sally
(Sarah), born Nov. 25, 1764.
(24) 43 LUCRETIA FRANCES VASSALL, born Sept. 24, 1751, bapt.
Sept. 28, 1 75 1, m. Richard Smith, of Boston, April 22, 1772. They resided
for a time at least in Boston, but it is probable that the Revolution drove
them abroad, as July 27, 1782, William Frobisher, soap-boiler, of Boston,
was admitted agent of his estate, as an absentee. Trinity Church records
contain the following: Anna Eyre, bapt. June 6, 1773.
(24) 43a FRANCES VASSALL, twin with Lucretia," born Sept. 24, 1751.
She is mentioned in her father's will of May 2, 1794. She probably d. young,
nothing having been found concerning her.
(24) 44 WILLIAM VASSALL, born Jan. 31, 1753, H.C. 1771, m. Anne
Bent in 1792. They left New England in 1772, and he was asterized in
H.C. Cat. of 1827 as dead, but he lived to the extreme age of 90 years, one of
the oldest survivors of his class. He d. at Berry, Pomeroy, England, sine
prole, Dec. 2, 1843, and she d. Oct. 8, 1846.
(24) 45 HENRY VASSALL, born at Boston, Jan. 23, 1755, bapt. April 1,
1755, m. Margaret Harvie Grceme, dau. of George Grceme, of Barbadoes.
She d. March 2, 1822, and was bur. at Stapleton, co. Gloucester. Issue of the
marriage, one son, 75 William.
(24) 47 CATHERINE VASSALL, born Aug. 4 and bapt. Aug. 12, 1757,
d. unmarried in England.
(24) 51 LEONARD VASSALL, of Brook House, Old Sodbury,
co. Gloucester, born at Boston, March 28, 1764, bapt. June 20, 1766.
Matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, July 8, 1782, B.A. 1786, called to the
Bar at Lincoln's Inn 1793. Married Sarah Fitch, sister of Col. Fitch, R.A.
She d. at Brook House May 20, 1851, aged 88 years ; he d. at Brook House
Nov. 19, i860. Issue of marriage : Leonard Samuel, d. in infancy ; 76 Laura
Anne Matilda, m. July 5, 1830, Robert Kerr D'Esterre, of Ireland, and d.,
Oct. 19, 1834, sine prole ; 77 Elizabeth Margaret, born in 1804 and d. unmarried
Oct. 4, 1824.
(24) 52 NATHANIEL VASSALL, born at Boston, June 18, 1768, bapt.
June 20 ; entered the Royal Navy and became a lieutenant, on Nov. 4, 1790,
and commander on June 15, 1814 ; d. Sept. 8, 1832:
(27) 53 ELIZABETH VASSALL, born about 1742, bapt. at Cambridge,
Mass., Dec. 17, 1742, m. Charles Russell, of Lincoln, Mass., born at Charles-
town, Mass. The following is a footnote by Harris : —
He was the son of James and Catherine Russell, born in Chales-town, Mass., Dec. 27, 1738,
H. C. 1757, studied medicine with Dr. Ezekiel Hersey, of High Hingham, and afterwards in
England with Drs. Colin Mackenzie and William Hunter of St. Thomas' Hospital, took a degree
of M.D. at Aberdeen, 1765, returned to New England and settled in Lincoln, Mass., where he
inherited an estate from his uncle Judge Chambers Russell.
Feb. 15, 1768, he was exiled by Act of Congress, in 1778, and d. at Antigua
May 17, 1780; she d. at Plymouth, Mass., Feb. 23, 1802. He sailed for
Martinique in April, 1775, and his wife, if she did not accompany him, soon
John V assail and his Descendants 29
followed with her mother, a widow. Dr. Russell's property was confiscated.
Of their ten children the births of but four are recorded in Mass. Some of
the others were, perhaps, born in the West Indies. Six were still-born or
d. in infancy. Children were : Penelope, born in Lincoln,, March 16, 1769,
bapt. April 9, 1769, m. Nov. 7, 1808, Hon. Theodore Sedgwick, of Stock-
bridge, Mass., and d. without issue in Boston, May 18, 1827; she was bur.
in William Vassall's tomb under King's Chapel. Judge Sedgwick was born
in Connecticut, was thrice m., and d. in Boston Jan. 24, 181 3, aged 67 years.
Elizabeth, (?)born and d.# Jan. 27, 1770 ; Elizabeth V assail, born Jan. 10,
1771, m. June 12, 1797, Charles Furlong Degen, and d. in Marion, co. Miss.,
Aug. 28, 1824 ; he was an English merchant of Leghorn, where several of
their children were born. The eldest, Charles Russell, was afterwards of
New York, was bapt. in Boston, July 11, 1798 ; Rebecca, born in Lincoln,
Feb. 20, 1773, was twice married, first to David Pearce, of Gloucester,
Mass., Nov. 6 or 8, 1793 ; secondly to Joseph Ruggles, of Roxburn, in 181 3 ;
she d. Dec. 15, 1825, in Philadelphia, and was bur. in that city. By David
Pearce she had issue : Charles Russell, and others (see Hist, and Geog. Reg.,
vi, 278).. Catharine Graves, born Jan. 9, 1772, d. unmarried at Roxbury,
Sept. 5, 1847, and was bur. beneath Christ Church, Cambridge.
(57) 60 ELIZABETH VASSALL, born March 25, 1770, m. in 1786 to
Sir Godfrey Webster, Bart., who was born in 1748, and was thus more than
twenty years older than the child he m. ; he took by Royal Licence the
surname of Vassall from Aug. 21, 1795, till 1797. Battle Abbey was at
the time of his marriage tenanted by his aunt, the widow of Sir Whistler
Webster, and the Websters were therefore obliged to take up residence in
a small house near by. The old lady did nothing to keep the place in order,
and everything was therefore falling into a state of ruin. Sir Godfrey,
though a Member of Parliament, had no desire for a political life, nor did he
care for society, so the feelings of a young and pretty woman blessed with
buoyant spirits, of an age to enjoy the pleasures of life to the full, may be
imagined ; the quiet country life, to one accustomed to live in London, must
have become very irksome. She longed to " leave Battle, that detestable
spot, where I have languished in solitude and discontent the best years of
my life" ; Sir Godfrey preferred the quiet life in England to the racket
of the Continent. He did not care for pictures and the works of art in Italy,
but in compliance with the wishes and entreaties of his wife he went abroad
with her in the spring of 1792 and there they went about. He was sometimes
with his wife abroad and sometimes in England; their relationship was
becoming more and more strained, and they finally separated in the spring
of 1795. In the course of their travels they had met Lord Holland at
Florence, in 1794, and the friendship then made rapidly ripened into mutual
attachment, and both before and after Sir Godfrey's departure for England
in 1795 much of Lord Holland's time was spent with Lady Webster. In
April, 1796, she started for England, and Lord Holland accompanied her.
They reached England in June, and she met Sir Godfrey at his house, but
shortly after left him and took rooms. In Nov. of the same year a son,
Lord Holland's, was born of her, which was christened Charles Richard
Fox. In July, 1796, Sir Godfrey considered the question of divorce, and
proceedings were commenced in Jan. 1797, which came before Lord Kenyon
in Feb. ; a condition attached was that she should give up her income to him,
retaining only ^800 a year. A claim was made on Lord Holland for ^10,000,
which the jury reduced to ^6,000. Lord Kenyon, who presided at the trial
of the cause, stigmatized the proceedings as iniquitous. On July 3, 1797,
by Act of Parliament, the marriage was dissolved, and Lord Holland and
Lady Webster were m. at Rickmansworth, in Hertfordshire, on July 9 ;
her stepfather, Sir Gilbert Affleck, gave her away. Lord Holland was born
Nov. 21, 1773, and succeeded his father as third Baron Oct. 26, 1774,
educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, M.A. Oct. 29, 1792, took the
additional surname of Vassall by Royal Licence June 18, 1800, Privy
Councillor, Lord Privy Seal, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, F.R.S.,
30 John Vassall and his Descendants
F.S.A. Lady Holland was a woman of remarkable talents, brilliant, witty,
and endowed with charming personal graces. The immense fortune left by
her grandfather, 54 Florentius Vassall, came into her possession. In her
will she left about ^1,500 per annum to Lord John Russell, and {100 to
Macaulay, the historian. In return for many acts of kindness which she
had bestowed upon him, Bonaparte left to her a gold snuff-box which had
been presented to him by Pope Pius VI, at the peace of Tolentino in 1797.
It contained a card on which was written the words : " L'Empereur Napoleon
to Lady Holland, temoigne de satisfaction et- d'estime." Children by
Sir Godfrey Webster : 78 Godfrey Vassall Webster, born 1789 ; 79 Henry Vassall
Webster, born 1783 ; 80 Harriet Frances, born June 12, 1794 ; by Lord
Holland before marriage she had Charles Richard Fox, born Nov. 1796,
entered the Navy in 1809, but was later transferred to the Army, in which
service he rose to be general, and was aide-de-camp to the Queen ; he m. in
1824 Lady Mary FitzClarence, second dau. of William IV and Mrs. Jordan,
and secondly, in 1865, Katherine, dau. of John Moberly, esq. He sat in
Parliament for some years, and held several minor posts in the Ordinance
Department. He died in his house in Addison Road, London, after a short
illness, in 1873. By Lord Holland, in wedlock, she had : 80 Stephen, born
Jan. 18, 1799, d. Nov. 22, 1800 ; a son born March 17, 1801, died
young; 82 Henry Edmund, born March 7, 1802 ; 83 Mary Elizabeth, born
Feb. 19, 1806; 84 Georgiana Anne, born Nov. 7, 1809, d. Oct. 31, 1819 ;
a daughter born and d. June, 181 2. Lady Holland died a widow in London,
Nov. 17, 1845, and was bur. at Millbrook in Bedfordshire. Lord Holland
predeceased her, having d. Oct. 22, 1840.1
(60) 78 GODFREY VASSALL WEBSTER (Sir), 5th Bart., born Oct. 6,
1789, M.P. Sussex, 1812-20, m. Aug. 22, 1814, Charlotte, dau. of Robertson,
of Westmeath, and by her (who d. Jan. 30, 1867) had issue : Godfrey Vassall ;
Augustus Frederick George] Frederick, born 1821, m. July 29, 1870, Julia
Helena, dau. of the Rev. William Margesson, of Wooldringfold, co. Sussex,
and had a son, Godfrey Frederick, born May 7, 1873, d. July 1, 1880. Henry
Arthur, born in 1822, d. unmarried May 5, 1868 ; Guy, born in 1831, d. un-
married at Ostend, April 14, 1868. Sir Godfrey Vassall Webster d. July 17,
1836, and was succeeded bv his eldest son,
SIR GODFREY VASSALL WEBSTER, 6th Bart., born July 3, 1815,
entered the Royal Navy Nov. 8, 1828, Lieut. Jan. 20, 1840, Comm. Dec. 23,
1850, took part in the bombardment of St. Jean d'Acre Dec. 19, 1846. He
was born July 3, 1815, m. July 10, 1851, Sarah Joanna (who d. Dec. 19,
1889), dau. of William Murray and widow of Hon. Charles Ashburnham.
She was born in St. James, Jamaica, Sir Godfrey d. sine prole, May 4, 1853,
and was succeeded by his brother,
SIR AUGUSTUS FREDERICK GEORGE WEBSTER, 7th Bart.,
Comm. R.N., J. P. and D.L. Sussex, born April 19, 1819, m. May 31, 1862,
Amelia Sophia, second dau. of Charles F. A. Prosser, and by her (who d.
April 30, 1871) had issue: Augustus Frederick Wal pole Edward', Godfrey Vassall
Frederick Charles Webster, Capt. Bethune's Mounted Infantry, born July 30,
1872, d. unmarried in South Africa Feb. 1, 1901 ; and Amelia Sophia Rous,
born Feb. 6, 1877. Sir Augustus d. March 27, 1886. He had succeeded
his brother May 4, 1853. He entered the Navy March 14, 1834, Lieut.
Aug. 28, 1843, and Comm. July 1, 1864. In 1857 ne s°ld the Battle Abbey
estates and lived at Hildon House, Hants, where he died. He was succeeded
by his son.
SIR AUGUSTUS FREDERICK WALPOLE EDWARD WEBSTER,
born Feb. 10, 1864, educated at Eton, Lieut. Grenadier Guards Aug. 23, 1884,
Capt. Aug. 25, 1896, retired Oct. 28, 1896, succeeded his father March 27,
1886 ; repurchased the Battle Abbey estates in 1901, m. Nov. 12, 1895,
Mabel, only dau. of Henry Crosslen, of Aldborough Hall, Yorks, who d. leaving
the following : Godfrey Vassall George Augustus, born Sept. 2, 1897, 2nd Lieut.
1 The compiler is indebted to the Journal of Lady Holland, 1761-1811, edited by the Earl of
Uchester in 1908 for a great deal of information of Lady Holland's life.
John V assail and his Descendants 31
Grenadier Guards, killed in action July 31, 1917 ; Lucy, born Sept. 2, 1900 ;
and Evelyn, born Sept. 30, 1904.
(60) 79 HENRY VASSALL WEBSTER (Sir), Colonel in the Army,
Knt.K.J.S., m. Oct. 23, 1824, Grace, dau. and heiress of Samuel Boddington,
M.P. for Tralee ; she d. March 27, 1866, he d. April 19, 1847, leaving issue :
Henry Boddington, born July 9, 1825, m- nrst March 19, 1850, Emilie Marie
Louise Wilhelmina, widow of Major Arthur Fitzroy Somerset, and dau. ot
Baron Haumbagh of Hesse ; and secondly, Feb. 10, 1863, Eleanor Georgiana,
dau. and co-heiress of Hamilton Gorges, of Kilbrew, and had issue : Corisande
Eleanor, m. Feb. 28, 1886, Ferdinando Stratford Collins, of Lincoln Hill,
Ross, co. Hereford ; Kathleen Gertrude. (2) Charles Fox Webster, born Jan. 16,
1828 m. Nov. 11, 1865, Louisa, dau. of Sir Henry Calder, Bart., and d. Sept. 8,
1866, having by her (who m. secondly April 22, 1867, John Coupland, and
d. Nov. 29, 1874) had issue : Godfrey Seymour William, born Oct. 15, 1864,
m. 1887, Ada Mary, dau. of Francis Henry Paget, of Birstall, co. Leicester,
and d. 1887 leaving a dau., Dorothy Muriel, b. posthumous, 1888 ; (2) Henry
Charles Claude, d. Oct. 1871 ; (1) Alice Eve Grace, m. May 29, 1879, Frederick
William- Rodney Ricketts, late Scots Guards, a descendant of the Ricketts,
of Westmoreland, Jamaica ; (2) Evelyn Maude, m. Dec. 5, 1878, Hon.
Conygham A. Denison, a retired Comm. R.N., a descendant of the Earl of
Londesborough ; (3) Muriel Lilly, m. July 30, 1879, Edward Henry Pares, of
Hopwell Hall, co. Derby, and had issue : (1) Beatrice Frances May, m. July 23,
1887, Capt. Lionel Edward Barry, late of the 1st Life Guards.
(60) 80 HARRIET FRANCES WEBSTER, born June 12, 1794, m. June 5,
1 816, Rear- Admiral Hon. Sir Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew, C.B.,
K.C.H., second son of Edward Viscount Exmouth, and d. Aug. 7, 1849. He
d. July 28, 1861, having had issue : Harriet Betting Frances, who d. at her
villa near Florence, Nov. 8, 1886, having m. at St. George's, Hanover Square,
Nov. 11, 1841, Horatio William, 4th Earl of Oxford, who was born in Bottom
Row, Piccadilly, April 18, 181 3, and succeeded his father Dec. 29, 1858, d.
Dec. 7, 1894. They had issue: Dorothy Elizabeth Mary, m. at Florence, Feb. 25,
1868, Don Ernesto Due del Bazo (created Feb. 1868), 5th Due of Capri gliano
(Neapolitan), Marquess della Sonora fin succession to his mother), Count of
Galvez, etc. ; they* live in Florence and have no issue. Maude Mary, m.
Nov. 11, 1871, Count Salvatore Grifeo and Gravana Prince Patagonia,
Grandee of Spain of the first class. She d. June 2, 1884.
(62) 68 SPENCER LAMBERT HUNTER VASSALL, of Milford, co.
Hants, born May 17, 1799, entered the Royal Navy in May, 181 2, engaged
on active service on the north of Spain, 181 2-1 3, midshipman 1814, Lieutenant
July 3, 1819, in command of the Harrier 1831-5, successfully employed in
suppressing piracy in the Straits of Malacca, Captain Jan. 10, 1837, K.H.
Jan. 22, 1837, knighted at St. James's Palace Feb. 21, 1838. m. at Paddington,
co*. Middlesex, May 9, 1844, Letitia Sarah, dau. of Edward Berkley Napier,
of Pennard House, co. Somerset (she had m. first the Rev. Charles Henry
Pulsford, Canon of Wells). He d. at 29 Hyde Park Gardens, London, May 29,
1843 ; she d. 1878.
(62) 69 RAWDON JOHN POPHAM VASSALL, entered the Army as
ensign in the 78th Highlanders June 6, i!822, Lieutenant 1825, Captain 1826,
Major 1841, Lieutenant-Colonel 1851, Colonel 1854, Major-General Oct. 1,
1865, Lieutenant-General 1874, and General Oct. 1, 1877. He m. 1865
Margaret Emily, dau. of Sir Alexander Boswell, of Auchinlegk, co. Ayr,
bart., on Nov. 30, 1879, and d. sine prole at Weshborne Street, Hyde Park,
London, June 15, 1884, and was bur. at Brompton, co. Middlesex.
(62) 70 HONORA MARY GEORGIANA VASSALL, m. Oct. 1, 1829,
at Milford, co. Wilts, Edward Pering Henslowe, Vicar of Huish-cum-Langport,
and d. sine prole in 1834 » ne d. Sept. 16, 1882, aged 84.
(62) 71 CATHERINE SPENCER ALICIA BERESFORD VASSALL,
m. firstly on Oct. 1, 1829, at Milford, Wilts, Thomas le Marchant Saumerez,
second son of Admiral Sir James Saumerez, Bart., G.C.B., 1st Baron
dc Saumcrex, born Oct. 30, 1803, Lieut. 5th Foot Oct. 26, 1826, and d. sine
32 John V assail and his Descendants
prole July 4, 1834. She m. secondly at Hordle, co. Hants, England, Eardley
Wilmot Michell, of Walmer, of Queen's College, Cambridge, L.L.B. 1840,
Vicar of Shirley, co. Derby, 1847-72, on Feb. 8, 1841. He d. aged 72, Nov. 13,
1885 ; she d. at Walmer, co. Kent, Feb. 28, 1877.
(45) 75 WILLIAM VASSALL, born April 14, 1780, of Winterbourne
Court, co. Gloucester, England, M.D. Staff-surgeon in the Peninsular War,
d. March 13, 1845, bur. at Stapleton, co. Gloucester. Administration was
granted on his estate on June 5, 1845, to Anne Vassall, his widow (P.C.C., 136).
He m. Anne Oliver, dau. of Colonel Samuel Oliver, of Great Wigston, co.
Leicester, who d. aged 78 at Thornhayes, Downside, co. Somerset, March 20,
1875, and was bur. at Lansdowne, Bath, co. Somerset. Will with two
codicils dated respectively April 21, 1866, and June 25, 1874, and proved at
Bristol, April 26, 1875, by the Executors, William and Robert Lowe Grant,
her sons. Children were : William, born at Edinburgh, Feb. 9, 1819, d. at
Dieppe, France, April 19, 1823 ; 85 Elizabeth Margaret ; 86 William ; 87 Mary
Oliver ; and 88 Robert Lowe Grant.
(64) 72 ELIZABETH OLIVER VASSALL, born in Jamaica July 20, 1796,
m. March 23, 181 8, George Robert Johnson, M.D., her cousin, the son of George
Robert Johnson, and Elizabeth, the dau. of Alexander Campbell, who was
the son of Jacob Johnson and Susanna Mary Poole Lawrence, his second wife
(vide 64 Robert Oliver Vassall). The issue of the marriage : 89 Elizabeth
Campbell ; 90 George Vassall; 91 William Clarke, born June 21, 1824, d.
unmarried Nov. 8, 1854 '> 92 Georgiana Elmina ; 93 John Vassall Campbell,
born May 19, 1828, d. Oct. 28, 1851, unmarried. All born in Jamaica.
George Robert Johnson d. Oct. 28, 1831, and was bur. at Brownberry,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica ; his widow d. Sept. 27, 1880, and was bur. in the grave-
yard attached to St. Alban's Church, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.
(73) 89 ELIZABETH CAMPBELL JOHNSON, born at Spring-hill,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, March 18, 1819, m. at Spring-hill, Sept. 26, 1837,
Francis Severn Maxwell, who was born at Plymouth, England, Feb. 8, 181 5,
the eldest son of Francis Severn Maxwell, Comm, R.N., of Stamford, co.
Hertford, England. She d. and was bur. in the St. Alban's graveyard,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, Aug. 27, 1900 ; her husband predeceased her, having
d. and was bur. on Feb. 8, 1872, in the graveyard attached to Mount Hermon,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Issue of marriage : 94 Francis Salmon, 95 George
Robert Johnson, 96 Mary Elizabeth, 97 Sarah Elmina Vassall, 98 Henry
Phillips Campbell, 99 Elizabeth Marian, 100 William Wildey.
(73) 90 GEORGE VASSALL JOHNSON, born Sept. 21, 1822, at Abingdon,
Hanover, Jamaica, m. Aug. 3, 1853, at Longhill, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica,
Emma Evans Page, who was born Jan. 26, 1824, and d. Sept. 8, 1908, and
was bur. in the graveyard attached to Mount Hermon Church, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, having survived her husband, who d. March 3, 1868, and was
bur. in the same graveyard. Children were: George Robert, born Feb. 13
and d. March 21, 1856 ; 100a Elizabeth Christian ; 101 Georgiana Frances
Caroline ; 102 Anna Maria ; and 103 Emma Elmina Marion.
(73) 91 WILLIAM CLARKE JOHNSON, born June 21, 1824, in St.
Elizabeth, Jamaica, and d. unmarried Nov. 8, 1854, in Jamaica.
(73) 92 GEORGIANA ELMINA JOHNSON, born Jan. 28, 1827, m.
Jan. 8, 1842, in White-hall House, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, John Calder,
who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Oct. 20, 181 1, and d. at Stanmore,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, and was bur. in the graveyard attached to St. Alban's
Church on Oct. 31, 1871 ; she d. and was bur. in the same graveyard on
Dec. 23, 19 1 6, in her 90th year. Children were : 104 John Vassall, 105 Mary
Elmina, 106 Georgiana Roberta, 107 Henrietta Emma, 108 Margaret Isabclle,
109 William Johnson, 110 Charles Maclear, 111 James Arthur Lawrence,
112 Elizabeth Catherine, born Dec. 14, 1865, d. Dec. 20, bur. in the
St. Alban's graveyard.
(73) 93 JOHN VASSALL CAMPBELL JOHNSON, born May 19, 1828,
d. Oct. 28, 1851, unmarried, in Jamaica.
(64) 73 JOHN VASSALL, born in England May 19, 1799, d. unmarried
in Jamaica, Oct. 15, 1833,
John Vassall and his Descendants 33
(64) 74 MARY VASSALL, born in Jamaica Oct. 15, 1800, d. unmarried
in Jamaica Sept. 3, 1842.
(89) 94 FRANCIS SALMON MAXWELL, born Nov. 17, 1838, d. in
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, Aug. 28, 1919, bur. in the graveyard of St. Alban's
Church, was twice m., by his first wife he had a son and a dau. He m.
secondly Annie, Constance Rerrie on Feb. 17, 1864, and had issue: James
Per civ at, born July, 1868, d. Dec. 13, 1874 ; Charles Farham, born June, 1870,
d. Nov. 28, 1873 ; 113 Henry Severn, born July 16, 1873 ; 114 George Jacob
Johnson, born Sept. 20, 1874 ; Richard Anthony, born May 4, 1877, d. 1895 '>
115 Helen Eliza, born Feb. 4, 1879 ; 116 Roland Spencer, born 1883 ; 117
Edward Norman. His widow alive in Jamaica in 1920.
(89) 95 GEORGE ROBERT JOHNSON MAXWELL, born Aug. 19, 1849,
m. March 21, 1879, in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, 100a Elizabeth Christian
Johnson ; he d. Nov. 25, 1905, at Richmond, Westmoreland, Jamaica.
Children : 118 Elizabeth Severn ; 119 Francis Vassall, born May 9, 1891,
d. 191 8 ; 120 George Colville ; 121 Constance ; 122 Gertrude, born March 30,
1896, d. March, 1913, unmarried in Jamaica.
(89) 96 MARY ELIZABETH MAXWELL, born April 1, 1844, m. Jan. 21,
1862, to John Adam Thompson, the eldest son of John Thompson, Rector
of Hemley, co. Suffolk, England, who had been a chaplain in the army, and
whose wife was a sister of the Bishop of Llandarf in Wales. John Adam
Thompson came to Jamaica about the year 1859, and d. and was bur. in the
graveyard of the parish church of St. Mary, at Port Maria, of which he was
the rector at the time of his death, April, 1881. His widow survived him
some years, dying on April 14, 1907. Children : 123 John Maxwell Vassall ;
124 Charles Francis Petgrave, born in 1864 ; 125 Mary Georgiana ; 126 Francis
Elizabeth Severn ; 127 Henry Harold Oliver, born in 1876, d. in 1895 » 128
Herbert Walter Sydney.
(89) 97 SARAH ELMINA VASSALL MAXWELL, born Aug. 19, 1851,
alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(89) 98 HENRY PHILLIPS CAMPBELL MAXWELL, born July 25,
1853, m. July 25, 1883, 102 Anna Maria, third dau. of George Vassall and
Emma Evans Johnson. Children: 129 Anna Ethel) 130 Henry Campbe
Johnson) 131 Walter Wildev) 132 Eva Stafford. All alive in Jamaica in 1920.
(89) 99 ELIZABETH MARIAN MAXWELL, born March 21, 1858, m. in
1880 and had issue one son and three daughters. She m. secondly at Spanish
Town, Jamaica, in 1890, William Maxwell Douet, by whom she had one son,
Ernest, who d. young. Both alive in London in 1920.
(89) 100 WILLIAM WltDEY MAXWELL, born in Nov. 1, 1862, m.
Nov. 1893, 101 Georgiana Frances Caroline, dau. of George Vassall and
Emma Evans Johnson, and d. in 1896, leaving one dau., 133 Cecily
Frances, who was born Mar. 16, 1895, and with her mother is alive in
Jamaica in 1920.
(90) 103 EMMA ELMINA MARIAN JOHNSON, born March 12, 1865,
m. at Mount Hermon, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, Henry Walcott, of St. Elizabeth,
Nov. 23, 1893. Issue: Henry Johnson Braine, born Aug. 20, 1894; Ida
Elizabeth Braine, born July 31, 1897 » George Horatio Braine, born Sept. 10,
1899 ; and William Richard Braine, born May 27, 1905. All alive in Jamaica
in 1920.
(94) 113 HENRY SEVERN MAXWELL, born July 16, 1873, m. and is
alive in the U.S.A. in 1920.
(94) 114 GEORGE JACOB JOHNSON MAXWELL, born Sept. 20, 1874,
alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(94) 115 HELEN ELIZA MAXWELL, born Feb. 4, 1879, alive and
unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(94) 116 ROLAND SPENCER MAXWELL, born 1882, and went to
Panama, where he continued up to 1920.
(94) 117 EDWARD NORMAN MAXWELL, born Nov. 18, 1884, m.
May 4, 1919, to Irene, only dau. of Ernest Husband, of the Vere District
of the parish of Clarendon, Jamaica.
34 John Vassall and his Descendants
(95) 118 ELIZABETH SEVERN MAXWELL, born Aug. 19, 1880, alive
in Jamaica in 1920.
(95) 119 FRANCIS VASSALL MAXWELL, born May 9, 1891, d. in 1918.
(95) 120 GEORGE COLVILLE MAXWELL, born , alive 1920.
(95) 1^1 CONSTANCE MAXWELL, born Sept. 21, 1898, alive and
unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(96) 123 JOHN MAXWELL VASSALL THOMPSON, born April 14,
1863, m. June 21, 1894, 141 Mary Georgiana, dau. of John William and
105 Mary Elmina Earle, who d. and was bur. in the May Penn Cemetery,
Kingston, Jamaica, May 2, 1899, leaving issue one son and two daughters.
Lie m. secondly Jan. 21, 1903, Emily Maude, the dau. of David and Emily
Blanche Lillie ; she was born at the Bridge of Allan in Scotland. The
children of the first wife are : 210 Mary C aider, born Dec. 3, 1895, d. May 16,
1896 « 211 Violet, born and d. Jan. 12, 1896 ; 212 John Arthur Vassall, born
Jan. 24, 1898 ; 213 Dorothy Maude Earle and 214 Doris Minna Earle (twins),
born April 17, 1899. And of the second wife, 215 Trevor Vassall, born
Dec. 6, 1904.
(96) 124 CHARLES FRANCIS PETGRAVE THOMPSON, born Oct. 27,
1868, m. at the Kingston Parish Church, Hannah Louise, dau. of Frederick
and Margaret Hattersley, on Sept. 14, 1898. Issue : 216 Phillis Aris and
Royden Oliver. The latter was born on Oct. 14, 1905, and d. July 19, 1919.
(96) 125 MARY GEORGIANA ELMINA THOMPSON, born 1872, m.
April 3, 1907, at St. Mary's Church, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, Thomas Southby,
an English solicitor. Issue : 217 Henry Griffiths, born Dec. 15, 1909 ; 218
Maxwell, born at Weymouth, England, Feb. 7, 19 10 ; and 219 Herbert, born
April 7, 191 1, atBraemar, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Living in Jamaica in 1920.
* (96) 126 FRANCES ELIZABETH SEVERN THOMPSON, born at
Prosper, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, Dec. 18, 1874.
Alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(96) 128 HERBERT WALTER SYDNEY THOMPSON, born Aug. 8,
1880, at Port Maria, Jamaica, unmarried and resident in Cuba in 1920.
(98) 129 ANNA ETHEL MAXWELL, born May 7, 1881, m. George
Knowles, Major R.G.A., of Liverpool, England, Nov. 5, 1916, who served in
France in the Great War, bo,th alive in 1020.
(98) 130 HENRY CAMPBELL JOHNSON MAXWELL, born April 2, 1883,
joined the Army and was in Egypt in the Great War, on demobilization returned to
Jamaica where he was unmarried in 1820.
(98) 131' WALTER WILDLEY MAXWELL, born Oct. 3, 1885, alive and
unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(98) 132 EVA STAFFORD MAXWELL, born Jan. 12, 1888, alive and
ummarried in Jamaica in 1920,
(92) 104 JOHN VASSALL CALDER, born at White-hill, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, April 12, 1844 ; was, for many years, a Member of the Privy and
Legislative Councils of Jamaica, d. March 21, 1920, and was bur. in the
graveyard attached to St. Alban's Church. He m. 29 Nov. 1883, Emily, born
July 25, 1857, in Leeds, the dau. of William Simms, who was born at
Sanbach, co. Cheshire, England, Oct. 28, 1800, and who m., in London,
1844, Harriet Elizabeth Travers, who was born at Swanage, co. Dorset,
England, March 7, 1816. The children of John Vassall and Emily Calder
were : 134 John Travers, 135 Elsie Vassall, 136 Oliver Vassall, 137 Noel
Travers, 138 Kenneth William, 139 Colin Campbell, and 140 Mary.
(92) 105 MARY ELMINA CALDER, born at White-hall, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Jan. n, 1846, m. in St. Alban's Church, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica,
Nov. 28, 1866, John William Earle, the son of John and Ann Katherine
Earle, of St. Elizabeth, J amaica. He was born at Mount Olivet, St. Elizabeth,
Dec. 17, 1837, and d. at Ashton, St. Elizabeth, on March 19, 1912 ; she d.
at Ashton Aug. 3, 1914, and they were both bur. at Ashton. Children :
141 Mary Georgiana, 142 Charles Edward, 143 Frances Charlotte, 144 Isabelle
Campbell, 145 ^William James, 146 John Calder, 147 Violet Maude, 148 Ann
Katherine ; 149 Helen Ffarmer.
John Vassall and his Descendants 35
(92) 106 GEORGIANA ROBERTA CALDER, born at Spring -hill,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, June 14, 1849, d. unmarried at Hodges, St. Elizabeth,
Feb. 8, 1884, and was bur. at St. Alban's graveyard.
(92) 107 HENRIETTA EMMA CALDER, born Stanmore, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Nov. 18, 1851, m. Nov. 14, 1877, George Grattan Cooke, F.R.C.S.,
Ireland, formerly a Surgeon in the Royal Navy, afterwards Medical Officer in
Manchester, Jamaica. She d. in Mandeville, Jamaica, Nov. 15, 1906, and
he also d. in Mandeville, Jan. 7, 191 7. They were both bur. in the graveyard
attached to the Parish Church in Mandeville. Issue : George Francis
Nicholson, born Oct. 4, 1878, d. Feb. 1879, and bur. in Mandeville, Jamaica ;
150 Francis Hamilton, 151 Edith Mary, 152 George Grattan, 153 Kathleen
Isabelle, 154 Gladys Barbara, and 155 Evelyn Annie.
(92) 108 MARGARET ISABELLE CALDER, born at Stanmore, St.
Elizabeth, Jamaica, April 24, 1853. Alive and unmarried in 1920 in
Edinburgh, Scotland.
(92) 109 WILLIAM JOHNSON CALDER, born at Stanmore, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, June 18, 1855, M.D., CM. Edinburgh, m. at St. Thomas' Church,
Westmoreland, Jamaica, Aug. 15, 1888, to Mary Isabelle, dau. of Daniel
and Helen Sinclair, of Westmoreland, Jamaica, and sister of Frederick
Archibald Sinclair, M.B., CM. Edinburgh. He went to South Africa, and
was a surgeon in the Army in the Boer War, and joined the R.A.M.C of the
South African Army in the Great War, and on demobilization practised in
Scotland in 1920. Issue of the marriage : 156 William Eardley, 157 Kelvin
Sinclair, 158 John Comyn, 159 Gertrude Margaret, 160 Edith Emily, 161
Adeline Victoria, 162 Archibald Lister, 163 Donald Alister Luard.
(92) 110 CHARLES MACLEAR CALDER, born May 2, 1857, at Stanmore,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, solicitor, for many years Judge of the Resident
Magistrates' Court for the Parishes of Westmoreland and Hanover, Jamaica,
m. Blanche Adelaide, the elder dau. of Frederick and Grace Adelaide Lindo,
of Kingston, Jamaica, on Nov. 4, 1889. Issue : 164 Claire Vassall.
(92) 111 JAMES ARTHUR LAWRENCE CALDER, born at Stanmore,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, April 5, 1859, M.B., CM. Edin., m. in St. Alban's
Church, St. Elizabeth, Marion, second dau. of Rev. Thomas Smith, of Ewes,
Dumfriesshire, Scotland, on Nov. 16, 1887. Issue : Arthur Thomas, born
Mar. 14, 1892, d. Oct. 21, 1895 ; 165 Clarence Alexander, 166 James Norman,
167 Lilian Jean, 168 Constance Margaret, 169 Marion Vassall.
(104) 134 JOHN TRAVERS CALDER, born at Stanmore, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Oct. 5, 1885, joined the Derbyshire Yeomanry for service in the
Great War, and served in Macedonia until Aug. 191 8, when he was transferred
to the Indian Army Reserve of Officers and posted to the 22nd Cavalry,
Frontier Force, demobilized in 1920 and is in India.
(104) 135 ELSIE VASSALL CALDER, born at Shaws in St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, June 21, 1887, alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(104) 136 OLIVER VASSALL CALDER, born at Stanmore, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, March 6, 1889, was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship in 1907, and
went to Corpus Christi, Oxford, in Oct. 1907, took 1st Class Honours in Mods.
in 1909 and graduated with 2nd Class Honours in 191 1, entered the Indian
Civil Service and passed out 21st on the list of candidates and went to India
in 1913 ; he is also a Member of the Inner Temple. In 1917 obtained
permission to join the Army, and in the Great War was attached to the
1 /50th Kumaon Rifles, with whom he served in Egypt until demobilization
in 1920.
(103) 137 NOEL TRAVERS CALDER, born at Stanmore, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Dec. 28, 1891, studied engineering at King's College, 1910-13, and
was appointed to the Indian Public Works Department, and entered on his
office in 1914, immediately after the outbreak of the Great War. He returned
to England in July, T915, and was gazetted to the R.F.A. and served in
France ; he was seriously wounded at the battle of Arras in April, T917. On
March 30, 1918, he m. in St. James's Parish Church, Louth, Lincolnshire,
Madeline Idonea, the youngest dau. of Frederick John Ingolby, solicitor, of
36 John Vassall and his Descendants
Louth, and Madeline Anne, nee Kerr, his wife ; born Dec. 25, 1894. Issue :
Kenneth Vassall, born at Westgate House, Louth, Dec. 27, 1919.
(104) 138 KENNETH WILLIAM CALDER, born at Stanmore,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, Nov. 13, 1892 he was awarded the Rhodes Scholar-
ship in 19 1 2, and entered at Corpus Christi, Oxford, in Oct. of the same year,
where he took 2nd Class Honours in Math. Mods, in 191 3 ; he joined King
Edward's Horse as a trooper in his first term, and was promoted lance-corporal.
He was in Jamaica when War was declared, for the summer vacation, and
returned to England immediately, but on arrival there found that he had
been given his discharge owing to his being abroad when War was declared
and the force mobilized ; he, however, trained for a time with the University
and Public Schools' Corps at Epsom ; he joined the H.A.C. early in Oct.
19 1 4, and on Nov. 15 was transferred back to King Edward's Horse, and
gazetted 2nd Lieut. R.F.A., Dec. 4, 1914. Went to Egypt in June, 1915 ;
served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli from July,
and d. at Cape Helles Dec. 21 from wounds received in action on the 19th while
acting as F.O.O. in the front trenches, and was bur. in the Lancashire Landing
Cemetery.
(104) 139 COLIN CAMPBELL CALDER, born at Stanmore, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Jan. 18, 1894, unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(104) 140 MARY CALDER, born at Stirling, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica,
Sept. 7, 1895, was alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(105) 141 MARY GEORGIANA EARLE, born at Ashton, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Feb. 18, 1868, m. June 12, 1894, at Black River, Jamaica, John
Maxwell Vassall Thompson (vide 123) .
(105) 142 CHARLES EDWARD EARLE, born at Ashton, July 22, 1870,
alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(105) 143 FRANCES CHARLOTTE EARLE, born at Ashton, Feb. 13,
1872, m. March 24, 1917, in New York to Philip Robert Neave Collin?, and are
living in Trinidad in 1020.
(105) 144 ISABELLE CAMPBELL EARLE, born at Hodges, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, April 28, 1878, was a military nurse in France in the Great War,
alive and unmarried in 1920.
(105) 145 WILLIAM JAMES EARLE, born at Stanmore, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Nov. 19, 1879, alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(105) 146 JOHN CALDER EARLE, born at Iver Cottage, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Nov. 29, 1881, alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(105) 147 VIOLET MAUDE EARLE, born at Ashton, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, June 9, 1886, alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(105) 148 ANN KATHERINE EARLE, born at Stanmore, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Jan. 10, 1888, was alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
(105) 149 HELEN FFARMER EARLE, born at Ashton, Dec. 19, 1889,
m. on Oct. 17, 19 1 2, John Tracey Clifford Hillocks, who was born Jan. 20,
1878, and d. Nov. 6, 191 8, at Lodge, St. James, Jamaica. Issue of marriage :
220 John Farmer Hillocks, both alive in Jamaica in 1920.
(107) 150 FRANCIS HAMILTON COOKE, born in Mandeville, Jamaica,
Nov. 7, 1879, L.R.C.P. and S., Ireland, m. Feb. 26, 1908, in Mandeville,
Alice Katherine, dau. of Thomas Flemming, of Dublin, born March 25, 1879.
Issue : Marjorie Isabelle, born Feb. 17, 1909, and George Grattan, born Sept. 11,
191 1. He joined the R.A.M.C. and served in the Balkans Expedition during
the Great War ; at the termination of the War he returned to Jamaica,
where he is a District Medical Officer (1920).
(107) 151 EDITH MARY COOKE, born in Mandeville, Jamaica, Nov. 8,
1880, m. Feb. 18, 1903, Herbert Hood Daniel, who was born at Bristol,
England. Children : Edith Margaret, born Jan. 11, 1904 ; Beryl, born Nov. 7,
1905 ; and Nevile, born Sept. 24, 1912. Living in Jamaica in 1920.
( 1 07) 152 GEORGE GRATTAN COOKE, born Nov. 8, 1 883, was a subaltern
in the West Indies Regt. in the Great War, alive and unmarried in 1920.
(107) 153 KATHLEEN ISABELLE COOKE, born in Mandeville, Feb. 21,
1885, m. June 19, 1907, in the Parish Church at Mandeville, Arthur Guy
John Vassall and his Descendants 37
Robison, son of John Arthur and Alice Adeline Robison, he was the manager
of the Colonial Bank branch in St. Vincent, she was the dau. of James Miller
Farquharson and Margaret, his wife ; who had been the Custos Rotulorum of
the Parish of St. Elizabeth, and was a descendant of the same family as
Margaret Farquharson, who had m. 32 Florentius Vassall. Issue : Alice
Patricia, born March 17, 1908; Pamela, born Feb. 26, 1911 ; Kathleen
Hilma, born Jan. 11, 1914 ; and Ralph Anthony, born Jan. 25, 1920.
(107) 154 GLADYS BARBARA COOKE, born in Mandeville, Sept. 8,
1886, m. Sept. 6, 1910, Walter Herbert Wilson, who was the son of John
Walker Wilson, of Plymouth, England, a solicitor. Children : Ellen Joan,
born Oct. 15, 191 1, and Jasper Walter, born Dec. 3, 1916. Walter Herbert
Wilson was in the A.S.C. in Egypt in the Great War.
(107) 155 EVELYN ANNIE COOKE, born in Mandeville, Dec. 26, 1887,
m. Nov. 1, 191 1, at Nelson, British Columbia, Clement Clarges Taylor, son
of Adrian Henry Taylor, of co. Cork, Ireland, M.D. Lond. ; he served in the
Great War as Lieut. R.F.A. in France and Gallipoli. They were living in
Ireland in 1920.
(109) 156 WILLIAM EARDLEY CALDER, born at Orchard, Westmore-
land, Jamaica, July 19, 1889, m. Sept. 22, 1917, Dorothy Alicia, dau. of
Frederick Archibald Sinclair, M.B. and CM. Edin., and had issue : Ethel
Beatrice, born Feb. 14, 1919 ; Gerald Eardley, born June 2, 1920.
(109) 157 KELVIN SINCLAIR CALDER, born at Roseberry,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, July 28, 1890, m. May 4, 1918, Helen Margaret,
dau. of Frederick Archibald Sinclair, M.B. and CM. Edin., and have issue :
Marguerite Helen, born Feb. 18, 1919.1
(109) 15S JOHN COMYN CALDER, born at Benmore, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Oct. 20, 1892 ; he went to the Dominion of Canada March, 1910,
and there he joined the Canadian Army in 19 16, and was on active service
in the Great War ; on demobilization he returned to Canada, where he was
in 1920 ; m. Elizabeth Dewar, in Canada. Oct. 2, 1920.
(109) 159 GERTRUDE MARGARET CALDER, born at Iver Cottage in
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, July 20, 1894 >' sne went to the Dominion of Canada
in 1916 ; alive and unmarried in 1920.
(109) 160 EDITH EMILY CALDER, born at Iver Cottage, St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, Dec. 28, 1895, went to the Dominion of Canada and entered
Macdonald College, but went on to Scotland and joined her parents
in 1919.
(109) 161 ADELINE VICTORIA CALDER, born at Benmore,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, April 23, 1897 » sne was sent to Geneva in 1910,
but returned to England, and wa~ in Canada in 1920.
(109) 163 ARCHIBALD LISTER CALDER, born at Benmore,
St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, Sept. 8, 1899, went to Cuba in 1918, he was in
Jamaica in 1920.
(109) 163 DONALD ALISTER LUARD CALDER, born in the Union of
South Africa, Jan. 3, 1906, alive and with his parents in Scotland in 1920.
(no) 164 CLAIRE VASSALL CALDER, born at Falmouth, Jamaica,
Sept. 24, 1894, alive and unmarried in 1920.
(in) 165 CLARENCE ALEXANDER CALDER, born at Black River,
Jamaica, Sept. 26, 1894, matriculated at Edinburgh University (medical)
but joined the H.A.C. in the Great War ; he was sent to Egypt, on de-
demobilization resumed his studies, and graduated M.B., B.S. Edin. in 1920.
(in) 166 JAMES NORMAN CALDER, born at Black River, Jamaica,
April 3, 1896, alive and unmarried in 1920.
(in) 167 LILIAN JEAN CALDER, born in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica,
Jan. 29, 1899, alive and unmarried in 1920.
(in) 168 CONSTANCE MARGARET CALDER, born in St. Elizabeth,
Jamaica, June 24, 1900, alive and unmarried in 1920.
(in) 169 MARION VASSALL CALDER, born in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica,
July 2, 1902, alive and unmarried in Jamaica in 1920.
1 Barbara Edie, born Jan. 3, 1921.
38 John Vassall and his Descendants
(75) 85 ELIZABETH MARGARET VASSALL, born at Bath, England,
Oct. 14, 1821, m. at Walcot Church, Bath, co. Somerset, England, Jan. 15,
1848, Alfred Cox, of Chipping, Sudbury, co. Gloucester, solicitor, who s. on
Oct. 4, 1886, aged 71 years. She d. at Southbourne, co. Hants, Mar. 3, 1887,
aged 65 years, and was bur. at Brompton, Cemetery London ; Admon. (with
will annexed dated Nov. 22, 1886) was granted June 11, 1887, to Edward Cox,
attorney for Graeme Vassall Cox, residing in Tasmania.
(75) 86 WILLIAM VASSALL (Rev.), born at Wigston, March 22, 1824,
bapt. there ; matriculated St. John's College, Cambridge, Michaelmas term,
1842, B.A. 1843, M.A. 1 85 1, ordained Dec. 21, 1851, Rector of Hardington,
Mandeville, co. Somerset, 1853 ; d. at the Rectory, Hardington, Mandeville,
May 4, bur. May 9, 1883, aged 59. He m. Martha Ann, dau. of William
Dinsley Skelton, of Bramley Grange, co. York, by Rosamond, his wife, dau.
of Robert Atkinson, born at Carlton Hill, Leeds, co. York, Nov. 18, 1839,
m. at the Parish Church, Barwick-in-Elmet, co. York, on April 15, 1857, d. at
Hurst Manor, Matlock, co. Somerset, Feb. 3, 1914. Children were : 179
William ; 180 Margaret ; 181 Henry ; 182 Mary ; 183 Walter Grceme ;
184 Katherine ; 185 Ellen ; 186 Amy ; 187 Arthur Mandeville and Ann,
born Sept. 21, 1872, d. Feb. 12, 1875, bur. at Hardington, Mandeville ; 188
Archer ; 189 Gilbert Claude ; 190 Harvie Spencer ; 191 John Godfrey ; and
192 Leonard Montrose.
(75) 87 MARY OLIVER VASSALL, born at Chichester, co. Sussex,
Jan. 7, 1827, m. at Walcot Church, Bath, co. Somerset, July 4, 1849, Robert
Birkley-Forrester, who was born at Leicester, England, July 4, 1823 ; assumed
the additional surname of Forrester by Royal Licence dated May 12, 1849,
d. at Gyllanaes, Canterbury, co. Kent,, July 5, 1906, bur. at St. Martin's,
Canterbury ; she d. at Southbourne, co. Hants, bur. Aug. 22, 1907, at
St. Martin's, Canterbury.
(75) 88 ROBERT LOWE GRANT VASSALL, of Oldbury Court, co.
Gloucester, born at Passy, near Paris, Dec. 15, 1829 ; solicitor. He m.
Matilda Paulina, the second dau. of William Phillips, of Whitsun Court,
co. Monmouth, and of Salisbury Lodge, Clifton, co. Gloucester, by the Rev.
William Vassall, on April 8, 1856. She d. Jan. 13, 1908, and was bur. on
Jan. 17, at St. Mary's, Fishpond, co. Gloucester; he d. at Oldbury Court,
Fishponds, co. Gloucester, April 8, and was bur. 19th, 19 13. Children were :
193 Oliver Rodie, 194 Spencer Robert Lowe, 195 Leonard, 196 Paulina Mary,
197 Harry Grceme, 198 Helen Adela, and 199 Phillips Saumerez
(86) 179 WILLIAM VASSALL (Rev.), born at Bramley Grange, May 12,
bapt. at Hardington, Mandeville, July 6, 1858; educated at Cheltenham
College and Gloucester Theological College, Rector of Wear Giff ord, co. Devon,
1886-91, British Chaplain at St. Servan, Ille et Vilaine, France, 1891 ; d. at
La Gentillerie, St. Servan, Nov. 13, bur. at St. Servan Nov. 15, 1896. He
m. Alice Maude, dau. of Henry Holland, of Eppleworth Grange, co. York,
born May 26, 1857, m. at St. Catherine's, Gloucester, Oct. 29, 1884. Children
were : 200 William, 201 Henry Holland, 202 Margaret Grceme, 203 Arthur,
204 Mary Oliver.
(86) 180 MARGARET VASSALL, born at Bramley Grange, co. York,
Sept. 10, and bapt. at Hardington Mandeville, co. Somerset, Nov. 6, 1859.
(86) 181 HENRY VASSALL, born at Bramley Grange, Oct. 22, bapt. at
Berwick-in-Elmet, co. York, Nov. 18, i860 ; educated at Marlborough College
and at Hertford College, Oxford, matriculated Jan. 28, 1879, B.A. 1884,
M.A. 1885, Bursar of Repton School, F.R.C.S., now of the Priory, Repton,
co. Derby.
(86) 182 MARY VASSALL, born at St. George's Terrace, Leeds, co. York,
July 8, bapt. at Hardington Mandeville, Sept. 7, 1862, d. at Hurst Manor,
Mortlock, July 29, 19 18.
(86) 183 WALTER GR^ME VASSALL, born at Leeds, co. York, Aug. 5,
bapt. at St. John's, Leeds, Sept. 4, 1864 ; educated at Sherborne School, now of
Dallas, Polk, co. Gregon, U.S.A. ; m. Emma, dau. of Albert Murphy, of Dallas,
Oregon, by Jemima Dennis, his wife, m. atOakdale, Polk County, Jan. 10, 1892. .
John V assail and his Descendants 39
(86) 184 KATHERINE VASSALL, born at St. George's Terrace, Leeds,
May 27, bapt. at Hardington Mandeville, co. Somerset, Aug. 19, 1866.
(86) 185 ELLEN VASSALL, born at 9 St. George's Terrace, Leeds,
Dec. 1867, bapt. at St. John's, Leeds, Feb. 2, 1868.
(86) 186 AMY VASSALL, born at 9 St. George's Terrace,. Leeds, April 4,
bapt. at Hardington Mandeville, co. Somerset, May 23, 1869.
(86) 187 ARTHUR MANDEVILLE VASSALL, born at St. George's
Terrace, Leeds, Aug. 20, bapt. at Hardington Mandeville, co. Somerset,
Oct. 28, 1870, now of Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. ; m. Jennie, dau. of George W.
Badger, of Dallas Oregon, U.S.A., who was born at Ionia, Mich., U.S.A.,
Sept. 27, 1878, at Holy Trinity Church, Portland, Oregon, Oct. 20, 1901.
(86) 188 ARCHER VASSALL, born at Hardington Mandeville, co.
Somerset, July 11, bapt. Aug. 24, 1874 ; educated at Charterhouse (1888-92)
and at Keble College, Oxford, matriculated Oct. 15, 1892, scholar 1892,
B. A. (1st Class Natural Science) 1896, M.A. 1905, Assistant Master at Harrow
School since 1897 ; m. Cecilia Caroline, youngest dau. of the Rev. Kinton
Jacques, Rector of Brindle, co. Lancaster, by Caroline Augusta, his wife,
dau. of the Rev. Gardnor Baldwin, born at West Houghton, co. Lancaster,
April 11, bapt. there June 11, 1874 ; m. at Brindle on Dec. 21, 1899, by her
brothers, Rev. Baldwin Jacques and Rev. James Hinton Jacques. Issue :
205 Margaret Harvie, born at Harrow, May 9, bapt. June 11, 1908.
(86) 189 GILBERT CLAUDE VASSALL, born at Hardington Mandeville
April 5, bapt. there May 1, 1876; educated at Charterhouse (1889-94) and
M.A. of Oriel College, Oxford, Bible Clerk of Oriel College ; m. Rose Mary,
dau. of the Rev. William Lawrence Cotter, Rector of West Coker, co.
Somerset, born Nov. 4, 1878, m. at Holy Trinity, Yeovil, co. Somerset,
Jan. 7, 1902.
(86) 190 SPENCER HARVIE VASSALL, born at Hardington Jan. 28,
bapt. there April 28, 1878 ; educated at Charterhouse (1892-6) ; died at
Yeovil aged 20, on Friday, May 6, bur. at Hardington Mandeville, May 9,
1898.
(86) 191 JOHN GODFREY VASSALL, born at Hardington Mandeville
Oct. 10, bapt. there Dec. 21, 1879 ; educated at Charterhouse (1893-8) and
at Keble College, Oxford, B.A. 1901, M.A. 1905, Curate of Christ Church,
Poplar, co. Middlesex, 1904-8, assistant at Charterhouse Mission Church in
the parish of St. Paul's, Bermondsey, co. Surrey, 1908, Missioner 191 1.
(86) 192 LEONARD MONTROSE VASSALL, of Hurst Manor, Martock,
co. Somerset, born at Hardington Mandeville, April 15, bapt. there May 28,
1882 ; educated at Charterhouse (1896-9), civil engineer.
(88) 193 OLIVER RODIE VASSALL (Rev.), born at Clifton on Tuesday,
March 3, 1857, educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, matriculated
April 27, 1876, B.A. 1879, a Member of the Congregation of the Most Holy
Redeemer ; assumed by Royal Licence, dated 1901, the additional surname
of Phillips.
(88) 194 SPENCER ROBERT LOWE VASSALL, born at Clifton April 4,
1858, entered the Royal Artillery as Lieutenant July 25, 1877 ; died at
Bareilly, India, March 15, 1881, aged 22, bur. in India.
(88) 195 LEONARD VASSALL, born March 28, 1859, bapt. at Christ
Church, Clifton, entered the Royal Navy April 15, 1871, invalided and resigned
1877 ; Counsellor-at-law U.S.A. 1884 (Supreme Court of State of Illinois and
Federal Courts, LL.B., North-Western University, Illinois, 1889) ; m.
Florence, dau. of David Thompson, of Chicago, U.S.A., by Annie Doig,
his wife, born at Chicago, July 4, 1880, m. in U.S.A. April 15, 1897. Issue :
206 Leonard Samuel David, born at Chicago, July 14, bapt. at St. Mary's
Cathedral, San Francisco, U.S.A., in Dec. 1899.
(88) 196 PAULINA MARY VASSALL, born at Frenchay Oct. 13, i860,
m. at St. George's, Hanover Square, by her cousin, Rev. Robert Birkley
Forester, Vicar of St. John's, Wolverhampton, co. Stafford, on April 5,
1888, to Arthur Tanner, of Frenchay, co. Gloucester, younger son of William
Tanner, of Frenchay.
40 John V assail and his Descendants
(88) 197 HARRY GR^ME VASSALL, born at Frenchay, co. Gloucester,
Jan. 21, 1865, educated at Marlborough College and at Trinity College,
Oxford, matriculated Jan. 25, 1883, B.A. Dec. 1885, m. Hannah Jane, dau.
of John William Bootyman Anderson, of Cottingwood, Morpeth, co.
Northumberland, born Nov. 17, 1868, m. at Morpeth, Oct. 22, 1894. Issue :
207 Margery Gr&me, 208 Adela Mary, 209 Helen Mary.
(88) 198 HELEN ADELA (ELLA) VASSALL, born at Oldbury Court,
co. Gloucester, Aug. 2, 1868, m. at Fishponds, co. Gloucester, by her cousin,
Rev. Robert Birkley Forrester, on Sept. 6, 1889, to William George Tanner,
elder son of William Tanner, of Frenchay.
(88) 199 PHILLIPS SAUMEREZ VASSALL, born at Oldbury Court,
Oct. 8, 1875, educated at Charterhouse (1889-92) ; entered the Army from the
Militia as 2nd Lieutenant Gloucester Regt. May 15, 1900, Captain July 25,
1906, served in South African War 1899-1902, with Mounted Infantry,
mentioned in Dispatches, London Gazette, Sept. 10, 1901, and July 29, 1902.
Queen's Medal with three clasps, King's Medal with two clasps, employed
with West African Force, Feb. 27, 1904, to June 14, 1910, served in the Great
War, Captain 7th (Service Battalion) Gloucestershire Regt., killed in action
at Gallipoli Aug. 7, 191 5.
(179) 200 WILLIAM VASSALL, born at Wotton, co. Gloucester, July 10,
1885, educated at Bedford Grammar School and at Keble College, Oxford,
matriculated Michaelmas term, 1904, B.A. June, 1909 Curate of St. Barnabas,
Bethnal Green, co. Middlesex, 1910. Served in the Great War as Chaplain
with the forces in Mesopotamia.
(179) 201 HENRY HOLLAND VASSALL, born at the Rectory, Wear
Gifford, March 23, bapt. at Wear Gifford, April, 1887, educated at Bedford
Grammar School and at Keble College, Oxford, matriculated Michaelmas term
1906; m. at St. Mary Abbotts, Kensington, Oct. 11, 1910, Gwendolen
St. Clair, dau. of R. Chase Morris, of Wellington, New Zealand, Issue :
210 Patricia St. Clair, born at Qomba, Nyassaland, British Central Africa,
May 12, 1912.
(179) 202 MARGARET GRAEME VASSALL, born at the Rectory, Wear
Gifford, North Devon, Jan. 17, 1889, bapt. at Wear Gifford.
(179) 203 ARTHUR VASSALL, born at the Rectory, Wear Gifford,
North Devon, on July 18, d. there Aug. 2, 1890.
(179) 204 MARY OLIVER VASSALL, born at La Gentillerie, St. Servan,
France, June 4, 1892, m. at St. Mary's, Harrow-on-the-Hill, July 6, 1918,
to Reginald Trelawney Wickham, Royal Air Force, second son of Rev. Preb.
Archdale Palmer Wickham, of East Brent, co. Somerset. Issue : a son,
Anthony, born 1919.
(188) 205 MARGARET HARVIE VASSALL, born at Harrow May 9,
1908, bapt. there June 11.
(195) 206 LEONARD SAMUEL DAVID VASSALL, born at Chicago,
July 14, bapt. at St. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco, U.S.A., Dec. 1899.
(197) 207 MARGERY GRAEME VASSALL, born at Morpeth, Nov. 10,
1895, bapt. there, m. at St. Mary's, Fishpond, co. Gloucester, Dec. 28, 1916,
to Denys Francis Parr Coles, East Yorks Regt., third son of Hugh T. Coles,
of Elm Croft.
(197) 208 ADELA MARY VASSALL, born May 12, 1897, bapt. at Morpeth.
(197) 209 HELEN MARY VASSALL, born July 3, 1898, bapt. at Morpeth.
Printed by Stephen Austin & Sons, Ltd., Hertford
\\
.
/
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American Libraries
TV News
Understanding 9/11